Things That Irritate You in Life

Clapping for the NHS. I no longer live in the United Kingdom, so I might be missing something here; but really, what’s the point of it? If everyone who clapped gave a pound coin donation instead, they could raise millions (i.e. do something productive). Plus everyone who claps ends up looking like a performing seal. :D
 
Zoofan15 said:
Clapping for the NHS. I no longer live in the United Kingdom, so I might be missing something here; but really, what’s the point of it? If everyone who clapped gave a pound coin donation instead, they could raise millions (i.e. do something productive). Plus everyone who claps ends up looking like a performing seal. :D
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I don't understand why this would 'irritate' you? It is showing gratitude to people who are risking their lives to keep us safe and healthy. As for your point about giving a pound to the NHS - we already do that, and more - they're called taxes ;).

In all seriousness though, I don't think something like that belongs on this thread, however you meant it - it implies a lack of respect to people who are doing all they can to save thousands of people every day.
 
amur leopard said:
I don't understand why this would 'irritate' you? It is showing gratitude to people who are risking their lives to keep us safe and healthy. As for your point about giving a pound to the NHS - we already do that, and more - they're called taxes ;).

In all seriousness though, I don't think something like that belongs on this thread, however you meant it - it implies a lack of respect to people who are doing all they can to save thousands of people every day.
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You’ve completely missed the point (or chosen to). The criticism (irritation) was solely aimed at whoever thinks this is the best way to show appreciation for the invaluable work the NHS do.

Having worked in the medical field in New Zealand, I can honestly say anyone who has worked a day providing frontline healthcare would appreciate a better wage, increased funding for their department, people staying home/using common sense etc. far more than a bunch of people clapping for them.

Paying taxes are all well and good; but that’s a given. People wanting to do something productive have (instead of clapping) taken the initiative to do sponsored walks etc. and raised millions.
 
Zoofan15 said:
You’ve completely missed the point (or chosen to). The criticism (irritation) was solely aimed at whoever thinks this is the best way to show appreciation for the invaluable work the NHS do.
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Does it irritate you also when people clap after a concert or an opera, instead of tossing coins into a bucket? Not a perfect comparison, but I reckon people are permitted to both donate and clap, one shows material appreciation and the other a more emotional, heartfelt thanks.
 
Personally I don't mind the clapping or - as was done here in Belgium during the first wave - the hanging of white sheets or towels out of windows, sometimes with thank you messages. I do think it is a positive sign of appreciation and gratitude and might uplift the spirits of healtcare workers a bit, even if everyone knows the things they truly need like better pay and increased funding of healthcare and even if different actions would have a larger impact.

That said, the true best way for everyone to show their gratitude towards the healthcare sector is to be careful, to follow the Covid-19 safety regulations as strictly as possible and to report unsafe situations or serious violations if you encounter them, so that hopefully we can hopefully control and decrease the infection and hospital admission rates as soon as possible. Now that healthcare workers are getting more and more exhausted physically and mentally the best we can all do is do what we can to help as few people as possible end up in the hospitals with Covid-19. I won't say don't leave your house, but I will say that if you do, be careful and follow the rules wherever you go. Keep you social distance, wear your mask, wash or desinfect your hands.
 
amur leopard said:
Does it irritate you also when people clap after a concert or an opera, instead of tossing coins into a bucket? Not a perfect comparison, but I reckon people are permitted to both donate and clap, one shows material appreciation and the other a more emotional, heartfelt thanks.
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We had the same discussion in Austria and Germany, including the opinions of persons directly involved. A lot of people working in Healthcare (in particular nurses and doctors) remarked that while they appreciated the positivity of the gesture, they considered it more and more as meaningless virtue signaling that changed nothing about the disadvantages in their professions and allowed the responsible people in charge to get away with their shortcomings. Medical staff working in ICU with direct contact to severe COVID-19 patients reported feeling ostracized, alienated and discriminated in their private life due to their profession. Including being banned from shopping at their local stores due to the weird notion that they could infect other customers. For them, the clapping was pure mockery.
 
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Batto said:
A lot of people working in Healthcare (in particular nurses and doctors) remarked that while they appreciated the positivity of the gesture, they considered it more and more as meaningless virtue signaling that changed nothing about the disadvantages in their professions and allowed the responsible people in charge to get away with their shortcomings.
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Yep, this sums it up pretty well - not only did it descend into meaningless virtue signalling as far as myself and many of my coworkers were concerned, but it grates all the more when those in power capitalise on it to distract from their own action or inaction, and moreover paint those who abstained (often people directly working for the healthcare sector!) as the ones not "doing their bit" to support the NHS :p
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Who believes that and based on what?
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Lots of people believe it, I have heard it in New Zealand from family members. They believe that animals, such as the Platypus, were created by scientists who put lots of different species together. It's crazy I know, but it's a thing targeted at the fact that Australia has wildlife that is found nowhere else in the world.
 
Jambo said:
Lots of people believe it, I have heard it in New Zealand from family members. They believe that animals, such as the Platypus, were created by scientists who put lots of different species together. It's crazy I know, but it's a thing targeted at the fact that Australia has wildlife that is found nowhere else in the world.
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Lol I don't think the Victorian scientists were really up to doing something as advanced as that.

Never mind biogeography and evolution then....

Well it is proof of the need for better science communication I guess.
 
Jambo said:
Lots of people believe it, I have heard it in New Zealand from family members. They believe that animals, such as the Platypus, were created by scientists who put lots of different species together. It's crazy I know, but it's a thing targeted at the fact that Australia has wildlife that is found nowhere else in the world.
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Gee maybe they're so strange because the continent was cut off from the world for millions of years? :rolleyes: Honestly, compared to some of the stuff I've heard people say, this "theory" is pretty funny.
 
Jambo said:
Lots of people believe it, I have heard it in New Zealand from family members. They believe that animals, such as the Platypus, were created by scientists who put lots of different species together. It's crazy I know, but it's a thing targeted at the fact that Australia has wildlife that is found nowhere else in the world.
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I’ve never met anyone in New Zealand (or otherwise) that believes that; but it’s worth mentioning that when the first Platypus specimens arrived in England, some people thought they were a taxidermied prank.

The naturalist George Shaw remarked in 1799, “The platypus seems the most extraordinary in its conformation, exhibiting the perfect resemblance of the beak of a duck engrafted on the head of a quadruped. The specimen looked so like a taxidermic prank that I ought perhaps to acknowledge that I almost doubt the testimony of my own eyes.”

Liam Shaw | Platypuses do it differently · LRB 11 January 2021

Nonetheless, he correctly classified it as a mammal; while an Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime story identifies the platypus as the offspring of a duck and a water rat.
 
It irritates me when people start zoos in their back gardens and call themselves a "conservation center" and then to lend themselves credibility approach conservation NGO's working in the tropics to conserve critically endangered species and mess them around.

They ask to share publicity and promise forthcoming donations and then proceed to share the publicity on their webpage as if they are a partner or strongly affiliated but never donate anything at all.

Charlatans like that really irritates me and particularly when there are genuine zoos large and small out there who do their bit in supporting in-situ and ex-situ conservation in the range countries.
 
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