Will the act of hand-shaking be someday replaced by people rubbing their hands...

[banquo's_bumble_puppy]

Will the act of hand-shaking be someday replaced by people rubbing their hands together (as in the application of sanitizer)? I saw this on the news that the new etiquette is to forego the handshake and head straight for the bottle of sanitizer. It was then I had an "ah ha" moment.....but luckily it quicly passed.....

[Swift]

I never heard of such a thing. It sounds like nonsense.

[Perikles]

I saw this on the news that the new etiquette is to forego the handshake and head straight for the bottle of sanitizer. .

I was brought up believing the official 'coughs and sneezes spread diseases' line, only to catch at least one nasty cold every winter. I have been told very lately that transmission of diseases through handshakes is far more likely, and since then have washed my hands as quickly as possible after any handshake. The only cold I have caught since then was from germ factories commonly known as young children. It might all be coincidence, of course.

[Fazor]

Why would you head straight for a bottle of sanitizer if you forego the handshake in the first place?

I wash my hands after I use the restroom and before I eat something. That's usually it (unless they're visibly dirty from working on something messy or cooking). I tend to avoid sanitizer and antibacterial soaps unless I know for sure that I've contacted something nasty. There's a lot to be said for having an active and exercised immune system.

[megrfl]

My daughter graduated high school in May with her AA degree.

She attended her college graduation ceremony along with over 2700 graduates. Each graduate had to shake the college president's hand, but just before doing so their hands were squirted with hand santizer.

H1N1 was the concern.

I was brought up on the hardy hand shake, firm grasp, firm shake. Now, I just offer my hand limply. I am just following the trend.

I wouldn't be opposed to Mork's handshake.

Na-nu, Na-nu.

[HenrikOlsen]

Each graduate had to shake the college president's hand, but just before doing so their hands were squirted with hand santizer.

"Hygienically prepared."
"What do you mean?"
"The chef is under strict orders to wash his hands after making one."


To me, it would make more sense to sanitize after shaking, unless they where only concerned about the principal getting infected.

[SeanF]

To me, it would make more sense to sanitize after shaking, unless they where only concerned about the principal getting infected.

But then the principal would have to sanitize after every handshake. Sanitizing before means only once for the principal, and once for each student.

[mahesh]

aaw....I wash my hands off that

[Gillianren]

You know, I know people who own hand sanitizer, but pretty much these are people at ren faire where plumbing is . . . not always there. I'm not sure I know anyone who just kind of carries it around in what we laughingly call the real world.

[novaderrik]

more modern paranoid idiocy, and yet another excuse to avoid any sort of contact with other members of the human race.

[SkepticJ]

Until people stop carrying concealed melee weapons, the handshake will remain.

[megrfl]

"Hygienically prepared."
"What do you mean?"
"The chef is under strict orders to wash his hands after making one."

To me, it would make more sense to sanitize after shaking, unless they where only concerned about the principal getting infected.

That's exactly the case, to protect him.

[kleindoofy]

Will the act of hand-shaking be someday replaced by people rubbing their hands together ...

Oh, we'll probably just end up scanning each others chip implants.

[SeanF]

To me, it would make more sense to sanitize after shaking, unless they where only concerned about the principal getting infected.

That's exactly the case, to protect him.

::sigh:: If that's all they were interested in, they could've just had the principal sanitize after it was all said and done.

Here's a hypothetical: You're one of the students. The student directly in front of you has Swine Flu. The principal shakes hands with that student, then immediately shakes hands with you.

How do you feel now about that student preemptively sanitizing?

[HenrikOlsen]

If I got to sanitize afterwards I'd be ok with it.

[SeanF]

If I got to sanitize afterwards I'd be ok with it.

Fair enough, although I would prefer the other student sanitize before. I'd rather prevent the transmission of the bugs than kill them afterwards.

Still, if we concede the point, there'd be no difference between the principal and each student sanitizing beforehand and the principal and each student sanitizing after, right? (I can also withdraw my previous assertion that the principal would need to sanitize after each handshake)

So, if there's no difference between the two scenarios, the fact that the school chose to go with the sanitize-first option does not, in fact, imply that protecting the principal was their primary concern - and certainly not that it was their only concern.

[korjik]

I would rather just get swine flu now instead of waiting until the pandemic this fall. That way all the docs will be making me better now instead of being swamped later, I get a bit of immunity for the big event, and I will be able to take over the world when everyone else is sick.

[Gillianren]

I was at the library today, and a woman came by with a half-dozen kids. One tried to go to the water fountain, and she said, "No! They have germs."

Now, water fountains don't have all that many germs, given that--usually--no one puts their mouth right on one. Second, the kid could stand a little exposure to germs in order to build up his immune system. And third, it was about 85 degrees out. Getting a minor cold, assuming--not a terribly safe assumption--he would, is preferable to dehydration?