Quote:
Originally Posted by FurnaceFace
Hell, I've shaken hands with African tribesmen who likely have never seen soap in their lives. I somehow managed to survive. We just kept our hands away from our face until we had an opportunity to wash/purel our hands well. I think in the western world your chances of getting something from a hand shake are pretty slim.
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Ya that's a huge reason I think handshakes should stay. The offering up of the (empty) weapon hand in a sign of greeting is arguably the most recognized, cross-cultural hand gesture on the planet. I remember watching footage of a 1970's first contact encounter involving a European anthropologist and an Amazonian tribe, and even the uncontacted tribesmen knew to stick out their hand as a greeting, which surprised me.
And if they really bother people that much, then just be happy this isn't 100-150 years ago, where spitting into your hand before a shake was pretty much standard business procedure after coming to an agreement.