8 The South Marysburgh Mirror Handshake By George Underhill Please call for more details 613.476.2575 My hands have lost much of their strength so that, for example, I must pick up a glass of milk (or beer) with both hands because I cannot li(cid:332) a full glass. When I shake hands with a person, they grasp a limp hand. In the past, when I shook hands with someone who had a "dead fish" grip, I found it faintly repulsive. Now I have that grip. The manly strong grip, in which the object appears to be to crush the hand of the other person, appears quite common to me now. The alterna(cid:415)ve to a handshake is a fist bump, but unless the other person is ready for it, it doesn't work very well. During the flu season the fist bump is rela(cid:415)vely common in church because I'm told it reduces the spread of germs. You don't go to church to get sick. In other situa(cid:415)ons it's not used very much. There's the slap, too, where you slap the proffered hand of another, a gesture used to congratulate another for something well done, but not as a greetng. I am not a fan of the hug. I'm even less of a fan of the hug accompanied by air kisses. Many women rou(cid:415)nely hug one another as a form of gree(cid:415)ng, not so o(cid:332)en do men adopt this. I find it faintly awkward, certainly more so with other men than with women, but even with women I confess it's a li(cid:425)le uncomfortable. The excep(cid:415)on to fist bumping and manly hugging is sports. In baseball or hockey for example, fist bumping is common as is manly hugging when a crucial hit is made. Air kisses remain verboten in sports. When forced into hugging another man, slapping on the back is common to show that it's not a loving hug. So what social conven(cid:415)on am I to adopt? I think I'm stuck with the dead fish grip. I would appreciate any sugges(cid:415)ons as to an alterna(cid:415)ve. There are many social conven(cid:415)ons I now find uncomfortable. Knowing or remembering the names of friends and acquaintances heads the list. It's not just me, it's a common problem. I'm finding that I o(cid:332)en find it hard to remember the names of close friends and people I've known for years. My approach is to fake it and not use names. It's cowardly I know, but I find myself unable to admit these memory lapses.