the clap

No, I'm not talking about the STD. Disappointing, I know. You'll get over it.

I'm talking about the physical action of clapping. Not only is it one of my favorite ways to convey approval or excitement, it's one of my favorite sounds. Lately I've been thinking about clapping more than I usually do, and if you take a minute to ponder it as I have, you'll realize that it's sort of an odd thing. We slap our hands together. To make noise. To express our joy.

So who was the first person to clap? There had to be someone. It can't be a primal instinct of ours. I don't think our cavemen ancestors (or Adam and Eve, however you view our existence) did much clapping in their day. They probably didn't have much to clap about. What performance or occurence was SO good and SO moving, that it caused someone to take their hands and slap them together for the first time? Did they clap once? Did they continue clapping until the clapping fever had swept the entire area and everyone's hands started bleeding? What a feeling that must have been for that individual/crowd. Literally. Both the knowledge of having created a means of sharing the same emotion, and the pain from the bleeding hands.

In conclusion, however clapping came about, I'm glad it did. Out of all the ways celebrating events and people could've been, I think clapping is simply the best. So, here's to you, individual. Thank you for the clap.