I met a L, a young mother of two recently. I know both her daughters - they are both in elementary school, very chatty and adorable but had not met their mom yet. I introduced myself to L but we did not shake hands - not a thought that crossed either of our minds it seems. It was an awkward few seconds but it passed quickly - we both sensed that the handshake would be even worse than awkward. Since I am still working remotely, this issue has not surfaced in the workplace context but I am going to guess many people are going to be wary.
We’re at a critical inflection point when it comes to the handshake. The greeting, which has faced scrutiny practically since the advent of germ theory, has come under withering fire in recent years. In 2014 Vox published an article with the unambiguous headline “Handshakes are a filthy, disease-spreading tradition” The Atlantic ran a piece simply called “Handshakes are Disgusting” which pointed out that up to 80 percent of all infections were transmitted via hands and came to the conclusion, “it would be more sanitary to intertwine almost any other part of our bodies, apart from our lips or genitals.” When the pandemic kicked off in 2020 Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that he hoped Americans never shook hands again.
Would be very glad to see the namaste become the standard way to greet people. It makes for a level playing field. There are no complex rules of etiquette for getting the namaste perfect.
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