Kowtow is a Chinese word meaning deep prostration, in which the person lays face-down on the ground. Europeans used to kneel before the king and bow from the waist to nobles. Today we shake hands. Sometimes, guys will nod as a friendly gesture towards each other, a way of saying “I mean you no harm.”
There is some talk of doing away with handshakes permanently. I even heard someone suggest we return to bowing. I don’t offer my neck to anyone. A handshake reminds both participants that they are equal under the law, and in the sight of God.
6 replies on “Don’t Get Rid Of Handshaking”
Handshaking is insensitive to people without hands. Bowing is more inclusive and therefore the way of the future. All you need is a torso! Once again the Chinese have proven themselves way ahead of rest of the world when it comes to social greetings.
I don’t like the elbow-bumping at all. I agree about bowing being unacceptable when it is a deep gesture signifying a master-servant relationship. Bowing is probably the wrong word to use because it evokes not just kings but the cringe-worthy images of Obama bowing to foreign leaders. But there is also a tradition much closer to modern head-nodding that is a gesture of courtesy between equals. If we still wore hats, we could hat-tip, or touch the brim. I don’t think it would be good to do away with hand-shaking altogether but I would like to see it restored to a position of perhaps up one level of warmth or intimacy, with head-nods or something similar being the basic level.
But in general I am a person who thinks a return to more formality in speech, behavior, and dress would be a very good thing for our culture. It probably makes me sound old (though I’m not, in fact, a Boomer), but I find it appalling when children address adults by their first names, and don’t like it when salesmen or politicians try to address me by my first name, finding it rather presumptuous. I also deplore sloppy dressing, men wearing hats indoors, wearing flip-flops anywhere but the pool or beach, wearing shorts to church, indiscriminate cursing, etc. To my way of thinking, our culture has lost all sense of appropriateness of occasion, and also of respect for others (and ourselves).
Excuse me–there are some kids on my lawn that I have to go yell at.
Obama bowing to Saudi royalty is the perfect example of what is distasteful to me about bowing; with Arabs and much of the East, symbolism is critically important.
I fully agree with you, but what do you think of a non-subservient head-nod? I often see men do a sort of reverse head-nod, lifting their chins. In some ways that might be the perfect Americanization of the head-nod.
I think you have something there; I like the casualness of a nod, and yes, quite American in it’s easy friendliness. But handshakes are important in the business world; starting a job interview with a handshake helps reassure the applicant and puts both parties at ease.
Well said. And none of this cringeworthy bumping elbows stuff either.