Quote Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish View Post
true, that's what we were doing those weeks - whilst pointing at the houses where those unfeeling, inconsiderate, unappreciative folk lived, refusing to join in the collective celebration. We were like 8yr olds, told to clap along to the funny man at the party. We did it, though perhaps our excuse was it happened the same point in time as mass hysteria took over..
I agree with those that say that given the choice between a clap and a pay rise, the nurses deserve the pay. But even if you felt like an 8 year old during the weekly clap, my experience was different. We did it as a whole community, not because the government or BBC said we should - but out of a genuine collective sense of gratitude. I'm sure that applied to most if not all of my neighbours - and I am confident about that because we talked about it. We also set up new community groups to collect for foodbanks, to check on every house and flat in the area (with red and green cards distributed so that the elderly or vulnerable could signal they were OK or needed help), a new environmental group and more.

It could have been a cheesy gesture that added insult to injury - copied from the Italians or Spanish - but it wasn't. But as with most things, you get out what you put in.