Off-topic: hand shaking

by Libelle 25 Replies latest jw friends

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  Libelle

  This is totally unrelated to anything JW, but it's the only group I'm in online with such a mix of men and women, so I'm asking. What's your experience with hand shaking?

  Me, when I meet someone for the first time, I offer to shake their hand. It used to be, when I worked construction, that was common, men are used to shaking men's hands, so they would be ok shaking mine, though some would offer that wet limp fish thing and I had no idea what to do with that. I work in a different field now, and I find that more men get surprised, or lost or flat out refuse to shake my hand upon meeting them. I find that very strange, particularly in a business setting. Do people really still think that men and women should not shake hands? What you all experienced that? Women, do you make it a point to shake a new acquaintance's hand? Men, do you shake a new female acquaintance's hand?

  Yours Curiously,

  Libelle
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  cedars

  If I'm not related or good friends with a lady, I will shake her hand. If it's a close friend or relative, they get a cuddle!

  In some ways it's a shame they don't do things the way they did in the old days with kissing hands, but I can see why that's no longer done.

  Etiquette is a fascinating but often confusing thing.

  Cedars
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  IMHO

  I once visited an English-Speaking congregation in a foreign land and as a matter of course most, if not all, went round shaking EVERYBODY'S hand on arriving.
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  minimus

  I try not to shake hands because I believe many people don't wash their hands, Instead, I just kiss them.
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  rocketman

  I really don't like shaking hands. I've seen so many guys leave a bathroom without washing (and I've heard that it's pretty common among women too) that I no longer wish to shake hands. So I try to do so only as a formality in the appropriate situation.
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  minimus

  Rocketman, I see that quite often, One guy who came out of the bathroom said, "Am I glad, I don't work here!" When asked why, he said, "because all employees have to wash their hands before they leave the bathroom, te sign said".
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  Apognophos

  I've heard it said that men should not extend their hand first to a woman when meeting her; that it's poor etiquette to initiate the hand-shaking. Having gotten some very tepid responses from women a couple times when doing that, I now follow that advice. Now for guys who don't want to shake, I don't know what their problem is. I mentally keep track of when I've shaken hands, and always wash my hands before touching my face or eating afterward.
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  straightshooter

  Though I realize the health dangers involved in shaking hands, I still shake hands freely with both men and women. I have never been a cuddler, and I do feel uncomfortable in hugging someone. I guesss this is just how I was raised by my parents.
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  Theocratic Sedition

  When meeting a woman for the first time, whether in a professional setting or social, I shake her hand. Although I don't shake as firmly as I do a man's but not necessarily in a flimsy manner either.
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  Hortensia

  I agree about the germ thing. People don't wash their hands often enough and many common illnesses are transmitted through touch. Too bad no one bows or curtsies any more, eh? I'd rather not shake hands, but I carry some hand sanitizer and use it now and then throughout the day. No, I don't use hand sanitizer immediately after shaking hands with someone. I'm not that rude! But I try to remember not to touch my face until I get a chance to wash my hands.