I don't agree with it either and much less when sports people are doing it. I think it's going down a dangerous path and is for appeasement and subjugation purposes only.
But I'm probably also in the minority who hasn't been applauding the NHS due to the treatment (or distinct lack of) that my Mother in Law has been receiving from the BRI and from local Doctors and Nurses ever since the start of lockdown when she was originally admitted, as it's been absolutely disgraceful on every level imaginable. These people are simply incompetent.
And while we're here I also object to queuing at a supermarket for up to an hour while NHS staff of all types waltz up to the door and go straight in when they please.
I know I'm going to hell for these comments, but there you go.
I have revealed my employment in posts and I have formerly worked in the NHS. Nobody should feel they have to do anything. Applauding the NHS and key workers is pretty superficial. Pay me more post pandemic isn't - I don't expect that either.
The knee is already authoritarian. It is an instruction, an order. What will happen to those who feel they disagree with it and refuse to kneel? That choice will not be respected.
In regards to your last sentence. That was wholly necessary. Staff across the care sector cannot shop when they please. The variables across care settings are vast. I was working shifts of days and I mean consecutive days in service due to corona virus enforced staff shortages, then having to go to find shelves emptied. It was not a case of preferential treatment it was a case of keeping what was essential going including the vulnerable people we care for and support.