What a world. Amazing how civility as we knew it has turned on a dime - never to be the same

It is not just a handshake; in many situations, the hug replaced it. And then there are high fives and fits bumps. I try to offer a look and words, including a statement like "virtual hug." and perhaps a follow email or text or call just for emphasis. Some may even use a thumb(s) up.

I sure hope so ... I was just thinking that the other day. We could do an outdoor social distancing lunch . Let’s plan that before the second wave

I’m being conservative

Remember the elbow bump? Didn’t last long. I long to return to the handshake. In the meantime, I’ve come to clasping my hands as if they are shaking as a socially distanced gesture.

There’s always a silver lining: before the pandemic I had a sore right elbow which was aggravated by my firm handshake. Rest is helping :)

With my sons baseball travel team, rather than High 5 each other with a traditional end of the game line up, they now stand on each foul line and simply raise their caps to the opposing team. I did see some High 5's when my son got a hit that scored a run when the inning eventually ended within his team. See when the vaccine comes up how things will revert back to the way they were.

I am looking forward to the time when we have the option to shake or hug someone because we are actually in the same space. Until then we can enjoy warm smiles on Zoom and emojis in text, pm, dm, im and email.

Here’s hoping and belated Happy Birthday!

I'm glad we can still pet our dogs, and I think you'd shake on that!

My company logo is my Two Sons shaking hands. I have faith that handshaking will come back. For now, I miss the hugs of family and friends.

I understood handshaking came about to demonstrate you did not have a weapon in-hand, and today the hand itself may be a carrier of a deadly force. I like shaking hands, hope and expect we can return to it's wonderful way of greeting people.

I am one who believes things will normalize. People are creatures of contact. We want to touch, hug and connect physically. (Just watch our young people who are still hugging and touching no matter how much they try not to.) if the key takeaway is to be more conscious of hand washing and safe habits, we will be ahead of the game. When I think back to before COVID, I know I was far more willing to shake hands and hug friends and students in the fall than after January because of flu season. And I was religious about hand sanitizer and hand washing. I have faith...:)

We have been continually debating in my family whether we will be ever shaking hands again. My vote is no. I think future generations will be shocked that we ever grasped one another's hands.

I’m with you!

I would shake hands with any of you right now - shake hands, wash hands, do no touch your face.

To each his own. Brave man!

Erin, someone told me off line that handshakes were a male thing.

Fear not. If collective behavior from the Influenza epidemic is any indicator, handshakes, high-fives, hugs, working and socializing and twenty people in a phone booth will return and this dystopian memory will quickly dim. We need each other too much.

I miss the hugs and can live without the handshakes. I've been a germaphobe for years so this is natural for me; I'm just glad that everyone caught up with me. Stay out of my "zone" I always tell my children and they would laugh. What I will really miss though is "the fake high five" where you feign hand slap, come down low and slap at the bottom of the arc".

Then there’s those who invade your space...

Coincidentally the last person i shook hands with was Reno the owner of La terrazza restaurant.

Poetic License is:
the freedom to depart from the facts of a matter or from the conventional rules of language when speaking or writing in order to create an effect.
"he used a little poetic license to embroider a good tale"
So Gotham...... Time for me to fess up . I’ve been using and abusing poetic license forever . Especially on this blog as a means to gain the reader’s undivided attention and to show off my skills at composing “over the top “ scenarios that blend with and or enhance the subject matter of the blog . My bad . Or perhaps do I lead each Blog entry with this disclaimer ? Anything to sell a book ? To those of you who are critical of this technique I humbly apologize and will try to be of a lower profile with my unadulterated fantasy. You see ....I’m trying to make myself better . A better more honest person . If I lose some followers along the way it’s okay . If I lighten my burden in the process ? Even better . In constructing a new approach to my writing I feel I can continue to excel and choose new paths to express my thoughts and strive to improve my psyche at the same time . Meantime I will continue to vigorously shake hands or not . It will depend on how invincible I feel . I can already feel my self worth meter pegging . It’s about the little gestures of everyday folks . The sum total .

Hollander Sends