Dear Wildin’ With Willie: I hate it when people clap when someone drops something in the caf. I think it’s rude, disrespectful, and embarrassing. How do we get this to stop? -Culver’s Clapping Problem

Dear Culver’s Clapping Problem: There are many ways that we can go about this. Many people think of funny ways to go about this, as I’ve heard everything from the not so serious throwing the cup or plate back at people, to the seriousness of wanting to hang up pictures up of the clapping offenders like they do in the movies when someone’s check bounces at a restaurant. Personally, I think that there are better ways we could go about this.

In all honesty, the best way I’ve heard is to wean it out. If we have one class stop clapping, we are likely to have the clap die off. This could be what takes the longest, as it would require classes to graduate. It would require people to get together and not clap. I see that as the easiest way to go about it, but I also think that if we can find the people clapping and require them to clean up the spills would be a good way of doing that too. People don’t enjoy being called out, it’s embarrassing to be clapped at whenever you drop a cup or a plate, so if we find the people clapping and tell them to clean the spill, or have them wash dishes for a bit, or clean the cafeteria. It calls out those people and allows them to experience the embarrassment of being caught. If we go about it that way, they are less likely to clap, and eventually clapping should stop in the cafeteria altogether.

Apparently this is quite a bit old of a tradition, and according to many, tradition just does not change overnight, and you cannot change tradition. Well, why can’t we change this bad tradition? Culver-Stockton College has such a nice community, that this tradition shouldn’t exist.

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