Shake On It

As concerns about the coronavirus grow more alarming each day, we are encouraged to back off each other. Guard your personal space. Touching is off limits. We are reminded about how to wash our hands, sneeze and cough. Stay home. All this comes at a time when the country is more divided and than ever. People can’t talk politics without worrying about getting into serious arguments with family and friends. But this virus is threatening the universal sign of friendship, agreement, cordiality, and welcoming which is already in short supply. The handshake may never come back. It was already on shaky ground even before coronavirus.

History shows us handshaking goes back to the the ancient Greeks. Stone carvings from the 5th century B.C. show soldiers shaking hands as a symbol of peace, and also a way of seeing if the other guy was carrying a weapon. The Quakers are said to have popularized shaking hands in the 17th century. It was less stuffy than bowing and tipping one’s hat. Handshaking is not the same everywhere. Every young boy in America is taught growing up to make sure you give a firm handshake and look the person right in the eye. It is almost a macho thing that can be carried to ridiculous lengths as demonstrated by President Trump and French President Macron as they tried to hold on longer and squeeze harder than the other guy to show who was tougher. In Russia, men rarely shake hands with women. In China, a weak handshake is preferred and people hold on longer which can be creepy.  In Liberia, they have the snap handshake. People snap their fingers against each other at the end of a handshake. I think that may take some practice.

I would argue that handshaking has been under attack for years. The high five came along some years ago and became cool especially for kids. How many little kids have you asked for a high five and they know exactly what to do? Athletes have lead the way. When I was kid and a Major Leaguer hit a home run, he got a handshake from the third base coach as he headed to home plate and the next batter shook his hand as he crossed the plate. Now there are complex hand slaps and snaps and body bumps. Football players have carefully rehearsed dance routines in the end zone after a touchdown. A handshake now would seem like an insult. For those of us who don’t have time to learn complex gestures and dance moves, there is the fist bump. I don’t think it’s been scientifically proven, but everyone seems to think that a quick fist bump will not give the viruses the time to jump from one person to another. And now the person in charge of our fight against the coronavirus, Vice President Mike Pence has shown us the new handshake in the year of the virus, the elbow bump. Yes, he came off a plane in the state of  Washington, ground zero for the virus, and greeted Governor Jay Inslee with an elbow bump. Inslee seemed to know it was coming so he may have been tipped off. There is nothing more embarrassing than leaving someone’s elbow hanging. And to really show this is serious, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has told people not to shake hands at the sign of peace during mass. There has not been a ruling on elbow bumps.

So if we all agree, let’s shake on it. Oh, wait..what?