To post a letter back?

[Claplikeaseal]

Sorry, it's another clapping thread.🙄

So every Thursday some of my neighbours go out clapping, banging saucepans etc. Which is good for them. However, my DD is 2 and I suspect has some sensory issues because loud noises of any kind distresses her.

She's usually in bed but of course when the noise starts it scares her, she covers her ears and cries. So, naturally, I don't go outside to clap and comfort her. I probably wouldn't anyway, simply because I feel there are many other better ways to support the NHS which I do make an effort to do.

Last night I received a letter about how the "community" had noticed we hadn't been clapping and they were upset we were letting the "community" down and they hope we make an effort next time 🤨. There was more, it was nearly a full page letter but that's the gist.

I know who posted it, my partner opened the door. WIBU to post a letter back? Basically telling them to fuck themselves but in a way in which will make them think twice next time? I now feel uncomfortable and like all the neighbours are gossiping, but then I don't feel I should have to defend my actions as it should be my choice regardless of my reasons.

YANBU send a letter that literally says fuck off!

What arseholes. Write a letter back saying what you said here. I am inside comforting my daughter because of the noise. Not clapping doesn’t mean you somehow hate the NHS. God this has annoyed me. People are such awful virtue signallers.

Judgmental wankers . Yes post a letter back saying you are very sorry you are staying in to comfort your DD with sensory issues .

Another report of the clapping STASI harassing their neighbours.
I wouldn't respond at all and if I knew who had put that letter trough my letterbox they would receive it back in theirs, torn into pieces. What a bunch of wankers.

The letter torn into pieces, not the letterbox.

The latter would be funny though but unfortunately an illegal matter.

Agree with previous posts, don’t put any effort into explaining yourself, it’s completely unnecessary, just tear it up and post it back to them, that will annoy them more I suspect, sad little people.

And definitely don’t go out clapping in the future if you were tempted to!

You don't owe them an explanation. Simply post it back with a note saying "please stop harassing me"

Thank you everyone. You've helped me feel a little better and made me smile 😁

I just hate feeling uncomfortable, which I suppose was their intention. Part of me wants to ignore, part of me wants to explain and another part just wants to tell them to fuck off.

I definitely won't be participating in any clapping in the future though, that's for sure.

You could also give them a voucher for a free hiking trip to North Korea which includes a workshop 'Clapping as a Cult'.

I would tear it up and post it back.

Don't mention your DD's sensory issues. I'm willing to bet if they're wankers in this area they are wankers in others and I'm not sharing my DD's additional needs to people who might judge her.

I would just put, "the noise upsets my small child and I will be comforting her rather than participating" go fuck yourself you supercilious, virtue-signalling control freak.

These kinds of attention-seeking pricks frot themsleves off on their own self-importance. The best thing you can do is ignore them, reponding just encourages them.

I really think this is the way to go.

There is no obligation to clap (FFS)
There have been no clapping monitors appointed
Nobody has any obligation to stand outside and applaud on any given day/time for any reason
So don’t dignify the letter with a response. It just legitimises it. But it’s anything but legitimate.

I think that they are desperate for a reaction. Don't bite. Ignore them. It will piss them off greatly. In time they will realise that they've been an idiot. They probably know already.

I would completely ignore the letter.
They wanted a reaction from you, don’t give them one.
That will rile them more !
Concentrate on positive things, your daughter and your partner.
Let the happy clappers run out of their own steam.

@ElizabethMainwaring
Yes!

No one claps in my road. They did the first time, but it has tailed off. We didn't, because we couldn't see who or how it would help, just thought it was a bit silly. My sister is a nurse btw and she'd probably agree.

I would ignore the letter, and continue not to join in.

That is shocking. I would be livid! Fwiw no one claps here. I'm a little surprised tbh as it's a city centre street with lots of flats, but literally no one does it.

I'm glad I live in relative anonymity these days, but I used to live in a busybody type town where gossip was rife and I can see exactly this sort of thing happening. Just don't engage, it feeds into the insanity. Whatever you would write in your letter back would put you on the defensive and sound like you're making excuses or justifying yourself.

This virus is really bringing out the twats. It's like being in the playground again.

This evening, there was a very loud knock on our door seconds before all the clapping and pot-banging started. When I opened the door, there was no one there ... I think someone noticed that we're not doing it, and someone disapproves.

It will take more than that to make us do it. (The whole thing makes my skin crawl.)

In my head I'd fantasise about posting the letter back but in reality I'd just ignore it.

The clapping is nonsensical imo. One family member (medical worker) runs upstairs to her bedroom window and peers out to see who is clapping for 'her'. For clarity, she lives in a very small rural development and barely acknowledges her neighbours, who don't have a clue where she works!

Yes just ignore all the odd balls who have this issue. They have no rights at all to judge what others wish to do. I don't go out clapping at all. It doesn't mean that you don't appreciate all that's been done by the NHS and other workers at all.

A lot of people round here,have been using this clapping time, for a long time after the said time of clapping, and they stay out and chat for ages, drinking cups of tea and booze and smoking fags etc, with some kids banging pots and pans for ages after. It's not illegal of course, but a bit of a fad for some people now.

Please do it

Stupid people. What on earth do they think they are achieving? Plenty of NHS workers have said they don't feel the need for it to keep happening - once was nice, but what use is it when they're dying on the front line? Fuck all.

I would send their note back to them, with your concerns about the your child scrawled across it in red pen.

If it helps at all, these irritating busybodies and self-appointed village elders will always refer to 'the community' or 'the neighbourhood', but you can be certain that they are acting alone (or have possibly roped one or two reluctant pushovers at most). Most members of 'the community' will neither know nor care that you've received a letter. The senders just think it adds gravitas to suggest that they are writing on behalf of everybody else rather than just saying 'I', which will instantly out them as the sad little losers they are. Not that they would acknowledge themselves as such. They will be thinking "Well, if I don't do it, nobody else can be trusted to deal with it." For 'can be trusted', read 'could give a stuff'. They always make me think of Citizen Khan - the 'community leader' whom nobody else has heard of.

Most of them are also very stupid, not to mention unable to understand that other people are different from them and are not clones of themselves. They have the same kind of mentality as the morons who discover that somebody is a paediatrician, can only mentally process the first four letters, and then go and graffiti and picket outside their house. How do they know that you weren't out working a 12-hour shift at the hospital at the time?!

Doing this clap once was possibly a well-intentioned symbollic idea. Clapping every week is just silly and pointless. Banging saucepans and blowing vuvuzelas is just crass, antisocial, arrogant 'look-at-me' behaviour, which does not come from a good place.

People need to be made categorically aware that what they think is a 'make a racket in support of the NHS' is equally a concerted 'show your hatred for sleeping children and their parents, many non-NT people and terrified animals' intimidation campaign, whether they currently realise this or not.

It's kind of like a PA equivalent of going to Pride, but instead of just marching and celebrating, also punching everybody you spot along the route whom you suspect or know to be heterosexual.