Handshakes - Page 3

I am not a big touchy kind of guy, and doing business with Arabs I have found myself doing way too much cheek kissing with grizzly old men. but you get used to it.

with women, I don't extend my hand unless they do, and if they do I shake their hand like a man, no special weak handshakes for women.

The traditional rule I was taught is that you always offer to shake hands with a gentleman but only shake hands with a lady if she initiates the handshake.

However, in recent years, I must admit the taboo against offering a hand to women has lessened esp. in professional settings and I do find myself initiating the handshake sometimes.

I've never liked cheek-kiss greetings, but having Mediterranean relations, I've got used to it.

Professionally, I always shake hands, unless I'm dealing with European women, in which case I do the double-cheek kiss, but only if they initiate it.

Socially, I shake with guys, unless they're good buddies, then I might do the man-hug thing, which is a shake with the right hand followed by a hug with the left arm. With women, I also usually shake, unless they're good friends, in which case I kiss on the cheek. It's sometimes awkward with a woman you've met a few times, but don't know really well... sometimes they lean in for a kiss on the cheek when you don't expect that.

I had to punch a dirty rasta in Tokyo. I punched him right in the eyeball. He was trying to drag me into some porno club. Evidently "Da girls are CLEAN, mon", so I was requred by Rastafarian law to check it out.
Regardless, it was down some dark ass alley in Kabukicho and I was being pulled twords it. I asked they guy to let go of my arm twice before I decked him. There was a cop like twenty feet away and he looked highly amused. Maybe he'd been wanting to punch that dirty rasta for some time, and was unable to do it. I made his day.

That is hilarious. My buddy (his brother was a professional kickboxer, and he was no slouch himself) kicked the asses of 2 rednecks, both bigger than him, simultaneously, when we were in high school. He was one of maybe three black dudes at my school, and the rednecks had made some remarks about his girlfriend (also black) and monkeys, or something similarly offensive. After getting the first dose, the rednecks went for weapons, in this case, jury-rigged billy clubs, and went back for some more. They wore sunglasses for weeks after that.

One of the old school English teachers, who'd been reprimanded by the administration for manhandling these punks a few weeks earlier called my buddy "Champ" until the day he graduated. BTW, those two dudes are doing time now (or may be out on probation) for vandalizing every single car on a lot, and my buddy went on to university and a consultancy of some sort.