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To You, for Whom I Clapped Once
I thought it was a compliment . . .
Dear authors,
Oooops. My bad. I have under-clapped you. Here, I attempt to make it right.
I met Medium about 40 days ago. (Yep, I’m way behind. I know.) I only clapped once for days and days and days. It wasn’t sarcasm. I clapped for articles I enjoyed.
I discovered I could give more than one clap by accident, when a lazy finger stayed on the mouse too long.
In the moment I realized I could clap multiple times, my brain fired out the following thought. “Oh, you must be able to clap 5 times. 5, for, you know, the perfect essay. For a work of literary genius.”
I proceeded, foolishly, to believe my brain. I commenced clapping between 1 and 5 times for the articles I enjoyed for another 2 weeks.
For a moment, my brain thought this article was prescriptive rather than humorous. The article is funny. My brain needs support. I believed I was being moderate. Stately. Fair.
50 claps? It seemed so . . . effusive. Are we clapping for the eloquence of the writing? The poignance? The intellectual depth? Originality? Or to signal that the topic is timely, important, unique? All of the above, I imagine.
If you got a clap or two from me, it means I really liked your work.
My apologies.
