Aztecman02 t1_jeg54jc wrote on March 31, 2023 at 7:40 PM

Reply to comment by jlm_pix in This conference has bracelets to communicate comfort levels of touching by charlesteacher

There is nothing weird about handshakes. Humans are social creatures and touching/embracing is part of that. Handshakes have been part of human culture for thousands of years. I think it’s more weird that people need these passive aggressive colors to let others know they don’t want to interact.

jlm_pix t1_jeg6n3n wrote on March 31, 2023 at 7:50 PM

Whether or not handshakes are “weird” is an entirely subjective opinion based on your personal views and related to how and where you were raised. It’s a little interesting to me that you’ve conflated what is a polite way to indicate a dislike for physical contact with strangers without rebuffing a handshake nobody thinks to ask for ahead of time with a “passive aggressive” way to not interact.

Aztecman02 t1_jeg8doj wrote on March 31, 2023 at 8:01 PM

To me it is passive aggressive and it’s probably an extension of social media culture. People haven’t learned how to interact with strangers in the real world. Somehow humans figured out how to communicate their want/or not of a handshake for hundreds and thousands of years without a color reference palate. It takes something away from social interactions if your body language can’t do the talking and instead you just have some color label to express your emotions/desires.

SoraUsagi t1_jegbd0i wrote on March 31, 2023 at 8:21 PM

Not accepting an offered handshake is considered rude. There is no way around that. And I'm perfectly fine with them myself. But there are plenty of people who don't want to shake your hand but do so anyway so they don't appear rude.

jlm_pix t1_jeg9lk2 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 8:09 PM

I don’t know who offended you by not wanting to shake your hand, but I’m not as committed to working out this issue here as you are. So I’m just gonna go ahead and nod and smile.