Handshakes

So yeah it is December. The time of the year for Christmas cupcakes and dradle spinning and all around merriment in between the nastiness of holiday shoppers. Holiday parties come twice a week, 3 times on weekends and more likely then not you are going to meet someone new and do the universal greeting of shaking their hand.

I have probably got my facts mixed up on this because I can just about never cite the source but I heard somewhere that the handshake came about as a symbol of peace from back when we carried swords and used our right hand for dueling. The handshake became symbolic that we were not planning on stabbing the person who’s hand we were shaking. Left handed people were supposedly “traitorous” because they would be shaking your hand with their right and stabbing you with their left.

Isn’t history fun?

And this custom remains on through today. You meet someone. You shake their hand. There might be some mutation of it…the high five…the fist bump etc.

Now is there a “best” way to shake their hand? I have shaken hands with a lot of people from surgeons and concert pianists to top performing old time strongmen. The former was too soft and felt a lil creepy. Some of the strongest hands in the world held their strength back and shook it like a human being.

And every once in awhile you’ll get someone that is malicious when they shake your hand. Are they trying to compensate for something? I they trying to show how tough they are? If Dennis Rogers (world’s greatest strongman) doesn’t crush your hand why should anyone else?

Especially when introducing yourself to females. It should be common sense but common sense eludes the common man lately. It doesn’t impress them and they will tell their friends not to talk to you if you pull that sh!t.

Related posts:

1. my response to the shake weight video
2. just like I thought
3. Christmas reflections