The Handshake- A Ritual Whose Time Has Come… And Gone

I honestly don’t think this would ever fly in Texas — not that I don’t think it’s a good idea, but people actually judge others on the firmness of their shake here, and how you look them in the eye when you do it.
Furthermore, it would be seen as an insult of the highest order to not accept an extended hand; it would cause the person offering it to distrust the one who refused. It would be seen by the one offering as the other not being willing to “shake on it” (whatever “it” happened to be), meaning they were being deceitful.

It may seem like something out of a western, and may happen in varying degrees (depending upon which part of the state you live in), but that’s Texas for you.

I agree with Bill – hand sanitizer is the only way to go down here.

Michael, I totally agree about the antibacteria/building resistance issue. It’s a total lose/lose no matter how you look at this.

Side note – I offered my hand to an Orthodox Jewish business man I met in New York while I was there, not realizing that according to his religious beliefs the only woman he could touch was his wife. I felt totally snubbed when he shook his head and drew his hand back — before the reason dawned on me. Oddly, I didn’t feel insulted at all when I realized *that* was his reason, but if it had been because he had thought I might be “catchy” with something, I would have thought him a wuss. Go figure.