Great sing along song. Everybody knows the words. He originally said the song was about his wife. Then a few years ago he told people that Caroline was the daughter of JFK, who was 11 when he wrote it. I’ve always felt uneasy about the lyrics after that.
The one line I decided to write about tonight is “Hands, touchin. hands”
I watched Boris with his elbow bumps at London Ambulance today. On Saturday and Sunday I watch the F1 teams find alternative ways of reacting with each other. I see the same when somebody scores a goal at football.
Today was an odd day. I went to a funeral of a really nice guy, but I didn’t leave my house – I watched a live stream. As the people stood up to follow the coffin I watched as they reached out to each other – it was so natural.
In churches people shake hands to share “the peace”. In some European countries they kiss you twice on the cheek to say hello, in others it is three times – gets confusing – but certainly closer than a handshake.
Watching Celebrity Gogglebox you see the dogs and cats that like to be touched. You see chimps on film grooming each other.
Physical contact comes natural to us in many aspects of life, for example shaking hands to signify a deal. It is so much a part of our lives. Go to a meeting in France and everybody shakes everybody’s hands before starting the meeting.
Several people have suggested we stop shaking hands. Forever! I watched a doctor on TV the other day suggesting it would be good for us to never shake hands again (apparently Fauci suggested it to the Wall Street Journal as well).
So do we adopt the Japanese bow (which brings your faces closer together – so is probably a worse option) or do we adopt the Mr Spock greeting?
I think a world with physical contact is probably worth the risk. I’ve been in places where there has been a lot of disease and I simply kept a small bottle of hand sanitiser in my pocket for use after shaking hands.
Anyway – would love to hear from anybody that has a wild touch free greeting alternative – especially if they provide a video of themselves using it.