I heard on the news today that Manchester University Students Union has banned clapping, saying that it makes some students ANXIOUS !!! It asks that students do a 'Jazz-Hands' display instead.
I've never, in my life, heard anything so stupid!
ANXIOUS? Being a soldier at fifteen (as many boys were during the last two world wars), not having enough food or water, finding out that you've got some awful incurable disease, suffering from all the dreadful consequences of a tsunami - all these (and many more) are anxiety-ridden situations. But CLAPPING?
GET REAL!
(Though if I were surrounded by crowds of people all doing 'Jazz-Hands', I might feel a tad uncomfortable!)