The (now obligatory) Standing Ovation

The problem I have with the ROH is that the applause just goes on and on. Then out-of- towners get up to catch their train (fair enough) and it gets a bit embarrassing as half of us are clapping ourselves sore and half are putting their coats on. (I have a very low embarrassment threshold)
Think I'd rather have a big lot of applause (even a bit of standing) and then get on my way.
Tell you what does irk me... clapping starting before the last note has died away. Very rude.

So I went to see an opera at the Royal Opera House, and greatly enjoyed the performance. So towards the end of the curtain call, when the main characters came out, I was tempted to give a standing ovation. I looked around, and saw a few people giving standing ovation, so gave a standing ovation myself. Even before the curtain call ended, roughly 30 seconds afterwards, an old man sitting behind me poked me. Because of the applause I could not clearly hear him, but I thought he said something like “What are you doing?”, and since that is such a rude thing to say, thought that I was mistaken. So I said “Sorry?” and he said, “Sit down.” I was dumbfounded but nevertheless sat down.
Then after the curtain call ended and the audience left the theatre, and I met the same old man in the queue to the exit. He said, “Why were you standing?” in an aggressive way, so I replied, “You do realise that standing ovation is a form of showing appreciation and”—I couldn’t finish what I was saying as he interrupted by saying “No. It is not. You were blocking my view. What were you thinking?” And so I tried to tell him that there were other people who stood up during curtain call as well, but he insisted that I was wrong, there is no such thing as standing ovation, and that he was angry because I blocked his view. When I told him that the way he talked to me was rude, he said that “It was meant to be.”
I want to ask if it is indeed inappropriate to give standing ovation in ROH- I am not british, so I am unsure whether standing ovations are indeed forbidden in the uk opera scene as he said, or if he was just a rude racist guy. Please tell me your thoughts!

People giving a standing ovation doesn’t overly bother me, it’s the people at the end whooping and whistling between their fingers, that I have a problem with - why do people feel the need to do that, especially the latter as it goes right through my head?

I tend to save it for spectacular performances, however, I do find myself reluctantly standing if people have done so in front of me just so I’m not aimlessly looking at their bottoms and can see what’s happening on the stage.

Is there a way to put someone on ignore on the mobile version of the forum or do I have to log in on a desktop? Should have done it ages ago but I foolishly assumed the last round of tiresome spamming on the subject was the end of it all...

Oh, those who whoop are way worse - particularly mid-show after a song.