Last night when I was talking with some Australian girls, the subject of Ryan Air came up (see previous post for how in love I am with them) and we compared notes about our experiences flying them. In particular, we all wondered why everyone on all flights we've been on have broken out into applause upon landing. And to be fair, it's not just Ryan Air. It's every inter-European flight I've ever been on. And really, this is strange to me. I've not encountered any European flights that were particularly turbulent, or would cause me enough alarm to be grateful to be back on the ground. I think I was caught by surprise the first two, maybe three times I witnessed the whole plane break into a round of applause. However, when flights four, five and six and so on, also ended with the passengers all spontaneously clapping in tandem as if scripted, the pattern was painfully (and annoyingly) obvious. However, what the hell was going on? Was the entire plane so excited to arrive in each destination that they could not contain themselves and their joy for landing in Milan, or Marrakesh or Madrid? I mean, yeah, I was glad to be there too, but I never thought of applause as an appropriate way to show I was excited about a new leg in my journey. Just what was going on with these spontaneous clappers?
It seems like I'm not the only one who has questioned just what the hell this is all about. I googled it and it turns out there are a few websites written about this phenomenon. Are Europeans just so amazed by flying machines that they are in awe of actually landing? Really? They're so happy that the pilot did his job and got them where they needed to go safely? In that case, I think all passengers in my car should clap for me from now on when I get them where they need to go. Actually, now that I think about it, as my mom would agree, everyone who has ridden with me should be grateful!
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