Coronavirus Choices - how to avoid handshakes when greeting guests and saying goodbye

Medical personnel are clad head to foot in protection. What should we do and not do? Here are some idea.

Coronavirus alerts have caused us to be wary of hand shaking and kissing as greetings and farewells.

Hand shaking used to be a must when entering the stage to speak and when handing back to the Toastmaster of the Day at Toastmasters International speakers' training meetings. But you also see handshakes as a ritual ending a tennis game, for example at Wimbledon. And you will meet people offering to shake your hands many times.

France has banned la bise, the kiss on the cheek as welcome and farewell. I have found more than 30 alternatives to handshaking and kissing.

If you are being ultra cautious, you should also avoid, high fives, fist bumping, air kisses, and blowing out candles on birthday cakes.

I should also mentions other advice I have heard, to avoid touching door handles.

These include
FACE
Winking
Nodding and smiling acknowledgement.

Even wearing a mask over the nose, your eyes can smile. A voice shows a smile, because on the radio or acting as a phone receptionist, you are advised to smile which is reflected in the sound of your voice from a wider mouth and the instinctive enthusiasm generated by the action.

HANDS
Namaste
palms together


Indian namaste greeting at the Oberoi hotel in Indian.

Martial Arts self handshake.
Cross thumbs and cross one hand over the other. I think it's the right hand over the left.

Here is my friend Raymond from Toastmasters International speakers' training in Singapore, demonstrating.

I once saw a poster advising staff in a Japanese department store, Isetan in Singapore?, how to greet customers. Staff at the door wait with their hands folded. Men fold their hands one way, I think its right hand over left. Women fold hands the other way, left over right.
The staff members nods as the customer enters.

You could fold your arms. But that looks unfriendly. Better to simply clasp your hands together. Or clutch a handbag, umbrella, walking stick, Zimmer frame, clip board and pen, whatever suits the occasion.

Remember not to put your pen in your mouth. Don't touch your face, when tempted to yawn, rub your eyes, scratch your nose, sneeze.

Hats and Salutes
Wear a large hat such as a sombrero.

 Or an Australian hat with suspended bobbing corks designed to keep away flies, also stops people trying to kiss you.

You can touch your hat.

Or tip your hat.

Or removed it entirely.

At funerals or when funerals pass it is in some placed the custom to remove a hat and place it in front, either over your heart and chest or lower.

Boy Scouts
The boy scout salute is a two or three finger salute. The thumb meets the little finger.


Military Salutes
A salute can be  horizontal, hand palm forward at top of hear or at ear level
Army
Air force
Navy


See pictures on Wikipedia.
Other countries have different salutes which include hand on heart.

Hand heart
How to do it? Put your two thumbs together, then your next finger on each hand touching the counterpart.  Bend the two next fingers downwards to make the heart shape.




The V For Victory
Winston Churchill made this popular in the UK. In the UK,  the v sign with the palm facing the onlooker is peace. But the hand reversed means up yours, an insult.

As different countries can reverse this rule, I always avoid v signs to be sure of not giving offence.

BODY
Bow.

Statues in Singapore by Gao Xiao Wu.

Curtsey

To prevent others approaching you, and save yourself from forgetting:

Western
Carry a tray of food, drink or leaflets.

Stand or sit behind a dog.

Sports, Events And Work

Sit on a horse.
Stand on a podium or pedestal, behind a lectern.
Insert a glass window and speak through it. (As done by banks, security entrances.)

Taxis
Drivers can insert a glass to keep passengers at the back.

Open windows to circulate air.
Eastern/Oriental/Tropical

Use a fan


Weddings
On special occasions such as a wedding, you can carry a tray of drinks.

Or your glass of Champagne.

Or raise your glass in a toast.

The bride can carry a bouquet and/or a prayer book.

She can wear gloves which co-ordinate with her outfit.




A mask discourages kissing.

Goggles also have the same effect.

You could wear a work hat and goggles.

Or a motorcycle helmet.



In the early days in Wuhan, photos showed improvised headgear boxing gloves, motorcycle helmets, ski goggles, swimming goggles. Such as plastic bags with holes cut out, hollowed out fruit such as grapefruit.

Keep smiling. Keep well, and keep cheerful. Hope for the best.
As American Benjamin Franklin said, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer. Author of
Etiquette for every Occasion by Batsford.
Quick Quotations by Lulu.com
Who said what when by Lulu.com

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Etiquette rules for you to follow in Asia and The West

In Asia the first things I learned were:

1 Beckoning
Beckon a taxi with  your hands palm down like patting a dog.

2 Business Cards
Present your business cards with both hands and a nod or slight bow. Receive a business card with both hands and a nod or slight bow.

3 V Signs
Winston Churchill made the V for victory sign popular in WWII.

Wikipedia article on V-sign. Photo in the public domain.

Asians are keen on V signs. With the palm facing forward, that's V for victory. Japanese girls use it as a peace sign.

I never make a V sign in case I get it wrong or the sign is misinterpreted. In Europe a V-sign with the palm towards yourself means up yours.

Hitchhiking

Hitchhiking thumbs up. Photo from Wikipedia article on hitchhiking. Photo author Drozd.

4 Right Hand Only
Asians who eat with their hands eat with their right hand in the food.
The left hand is reserved for going to the toilet.

5 Hand Shaking, Bowing and Namaste
In the US, UK and most of Europe, you shake hands on meeting somebody new or entering a meeting, greeting the Toastmasters of the day, and leaving the stage and welcoming the Toastmaster of the day or evening to take over, signing and sealing a business deal, often on congratulating somebody for winning a prize, and on leaving and saying goodbye.

Photo from Wikipedia article on Namaste: An Oberoi Hotel employee doing Namaste, New Delhi. Photo author Saptarshi Biswas on Flikr.

Namaste
Namaste is holding both hands together as if in prayer and nodding as a greeting.

Bowing
The Japanese bow. Men sometimes keep their arms to their sides as they bow. Women fold their hands as they bow. Sometimes men hold their hands as they bow.

The West - Europe
UK
A pupil should not address a teacher as Miss, but by their proper name.
In the UK small children who would struggle with surnames may call adult women Aunty and the first name.
In Singapore, the prefix, Uncle or Aunty, is a sign of respect and warmth towards an older person.
However, in the UK you would not call an adult stranger uncle or auntie, wich incplies they are related to you. Nor would you call an older person Grandad can be an insult, implying they are a grumpy old man.

Kissing
The French will kiss other on or near the cheek, not lips on lips, but kissing the air beside your cheek, as a greeting.

Thumbs Up

Thumbs Up - Numbers
A thumb up is one in the UK but five in Japan.

OK
The OK  or round sign formed by the thumb tip and next finger is OK in the USA but rude in several other countries. Rather than learning which countries, forgetting and getting it wrong, just avoid using the OK sign.

Useful Websites
Japanese etiquette
https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0000211/

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author, speaker.
Author of Etiquette For Every Occasion. You can buy it from Amazon or Ebay, new or second hand. If you read it, please give me a review. I have other posts on etiquette around the world. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.  

What You Learn At Swanwick Writers' Summer School

Problem
The Swanwick Writer's Summer School week is over and time to look back at what we have learned and what to do differently.

Other people at a conference often seem to be in groups of friends. Don't sit alone. Ask if you can join a group. If they are saving a chair for a friend, find another group.

Answers
If you are in the main house, work out how the showers operate. The pull cord, which in most places brings the emergency warden to open the door and rush into the shower to rescue you, at Swanwick turns on the shower which I thought had broken.

Tips
If there's no shower gel in the shower, but a dispenser by the wash basins, use an empty shower gel bottle to fill up with soap from the wash basin area for your shower.

If you are a speaker, or part of a group putting on a play or musical, practise:
1 Voice projection - can every member of your group be heard at the back of the hall.
2 In a cabaret type performance, plan to bow at the end - even if other acting groups do not.
3 Make sure all speakers repeat questions from the audience before answering.
4 Take photos and names and addresses of those with whom you share the stage.

For story tips, see next post.
http://www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have more posts on Swanwick Writers Summer School. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Recycling and Reviving Warm Winter Clothes

Problems

A traditional deerstalker hat worn by Sherlock Holmes and sold in Scotland and England protects your ears from the cold and your eyes from light on snowy days. I had just given up hope of finding one when I saw it half price in the children's section of Primark in London, England.

1 HATS
Light hats blow off.

2 CLOTHES
Clothes are not warm enough.

3 SHOES AND SOCKS
Sensible summer sandals are too lightweight for winter walking and let in water and frost.

4 FEELING CHILLED

Answers
1 HATS
Sew a ribbon to secure your hat. To tie a bow under your chin, you need two pieces of ribbon. Allow a long enough piece to tie a bow. If your ribbon is too short. Use one piece of ribbon extended with a piece of elastic. Alternatively have a pice of ribbon or Velcro which links at the back of the neck under your hair. (Like the join in a baseball cap which fits different sizes.)

2 CLOTHES
Check the temperature at your destination. Pack accordingly.
Jumpers with worn sleeves can be cut down to make neck warmers. If you have old jumpers which you no longer like, or the body is too small or old but the arms still fit, cut out the arms to use as a warm lining for your jacket or coat.
Add a warm hat, matching gloves and a matching scarf. You could also cut arms off to make two mittens, a pair of fingerless gloves, or one muff.

3 SHOES ANS SOCKS
Travel with spare socks. If the pair you are wearing get wet in rain or snow, remove them and store them. The wet pair can be washed and dried later. Use a hair dryer in a hotel bedroom or gym, or a hand dryer in a public toilet. Meanwhile, wash your feet in warm water in a bathroom or toilet, dry your feet with paper towels, and put on the dry spare socks.

4 CHILLED?
INSIDE YOUR BODY
DRINKS
Coffee and hot chocolate and tea. If you don't like calories, drink lemon tea. If you like joy, drink mulled wine.
Warm your hands on the cup of hot drink.
Carry a thermos flask or hip flask to save leftover long drinks.

GLOVES, MUFFS AND HAND WARMERS
Gloves can be lined, waterproof, padded, mittens, fingerless gloves for typing, or fingertip sensitive so you can operate a mobile phone without removing gloves.
You can buy a muff. Or make a muff from an oblong of material made into a cylinder large enough to insert your hands and sleeves. Use fake fur, discarded teddy bears and soft toys, or from a cushion, or an old ski jacket, the back or the sleeves.

HANDWARMERS
You can buy gloves for ski resorts with built in hand warmers. (Might only last a few hours. But good for a special occasion such as New Year's Eve.)
Hand warmers are various types. Some use batteries. Look for rechargeable hand warmers.

In my late father's childhood, children went to school carrying a hot potato in their pocket for their lunch. You warmed your hands on the hot potato.

OUTSIDE YOUR BODY
Book a hotel with a Jacuzzi or Sauna. Warm up in a sauna in a hotel or gym.
Warm your hands in the drier in a public toilet.
Warm up in the hot shower in a hotel bedroom, a hotel gym, or by a swimming pool.

Story from Angela
One year I was planning to do a winter walk around the East End of London. Even in the house before setting off I felt cold. I thought, I can't go out in such cold weather.
I reflected that the previous year I had been in the USA, in a ski resort, and had walked around in much colder weather, with snow on the ground. What was the secret? Padded ski clothes.
I looked in my cupboards and suitcases and the attic for my ski clothes. Off I marched, in aki wear. When I arrived and we gathered to meet the tour guide, everybody stared at my ski resort, neon, day-glo colours. I don't know whether they are simply a fashion, or have a practical use in locating you lying horizontal amid the snow and if you fall over or leave an arm out when stuck in a snowfall.
I felt distinctly foolish.
However, as the hour long walk progressed, everybody else got colder, and colder, shivering, blowing on their hands.
At the end of the walk, an American woman said to me, "What a great outfit you are wearing. You were the only one dressed suitably for the occasion!"

SKI CLOTHES
Advantages of most ski jackets
1 Jolly colours; reflective - so you can be seen at night crossing roads.
2 Inside pockets give added security.
3 Strong zips and secure fastenings.
4 Sealed seams and no fiddly buttons leaving gaps.
5 Raglan or wide sleeves and armholes and shoulders so they cover thick jumpers underneath.

Tips
HATS AND HOODS
In previous years I have had to wear a brimmed hat covering the neck bought in a ski resort in cold winter weather.
This year you can buy brimmed woolly hats which cover your ears and neck, with a secure tie-ribbon from markets and pound shops.

When buying a hat or coat I always look for one with a hood to keep my head and neck warm in winter and cold weather.
I have also added detachable hoods from one black coat or jacket to another. All you need is a button on the back of the jacket or coat and a loop of ribbon sewn onto the hood the right length to hold the button. If you have time, add two more buttons at the corner of the hood. This gives a neater effect, more warmth, and added security against losing the hood.

Scarves which are too long and get in your food can be sewn together at the ends to make a snood which keeps your chest warm.


Websites for further research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_warmer
http://www.xxl-sale.co.uk/search/?q=Hand%20Warming%20Gloves
Poundshop.com (Beanie hats, thermal gloves, thermal socks, £1.)
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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