The Handshake...

steve45

steve45

steve45

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Is there anything worse than a floppy, weak, cold and damp handshake?:(

What is it about the "Handshake"?

I see it as the first impression, the gauge of a persons personality, there is something primal, yet at the same time something refined, so much can be said in a handshake, it straight away asserts a social order with nothing said, its brief and simple, yet beautifully complex.
personally I find it a good gauge on a person and i find a weak handshake grotesque, and something that clearly plays on my mind, so much so that three days on from the experience i feel the need to discuss it.

Anyone else feel the same way?
 
steve45 said:
Is there anything worse than a floppy, weak, cold and damp handshake?:(

What is it about the "Handshake"?

I see it as the first impression, the gauge of a persons personality, there is something primal, yet at the same time something refined, so much can be said in a handshake, it straight away asserts a social order with nothing said, its brief and simple, yet beautifully complex.
personally I find it a good gauge on a person and i find a weak handshake grotesque, and something that clearly plays on my mind, so much so that three days on from the experience i feel the need to discuss it.

Anyone else feel the same way?
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In total agreement, i find a weak handshake almost if not on the same level as someone that won't look you in the eye when they talk to you.

I don't know why but i feel almost violated when someone basically strokes your hand when you shake theirs.
 
dholdi said:
I think you have a weird way of assessing people....
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Sliver said:
This. You can't weigh a persons character from a simple handshake. People who think this are deluded.
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May not be a true representation of a person, but first Impressions count!



darket said:
I don't know why but i feel almost violated when someone basically strokes your hand when you shake theirs.
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Makes me shudder just thinking about it.:(
 
The most successful man I know personally has a really, really weak handshake. He was a VP at one of the biggest credit card companies in the world, and before that very high up in Shell. Clearly he has nothing to prove and I find the notion that someone would judge someone else on something so petty quite ridiculous.

People that don't know when to let go though...that's where it gets odd!
 
I had a particularly weak handshake from a person the other day. I'm not sitting here thinking it's judgement day.

I'd rather judge a person by how they conduct themself after the handshake, by what they have to say, how they behave, how they present themself.

Sometimes you will have a person who goes in for the killer handshake, the death grip. Sometimes, they turn out to be someone you'd rather not do business with. They can be arrogant, self important, self absorbed and have terrible people skills. Sometimes, not.

You hit the nail on the head, it's primal. Not much else. A handshake really doesn't tell as much as you think it does.
 
steve45 said:
May not be a true representation of a person, but first Impressions count!
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First impressions should always be about what a person says and how they say it. A handshake is meaningless, it tells you nothing except for the idiots who overcompensate and try and snap your wrist.
 
I'm more concerned about the idiots that try to break every bone in your hand during a 'handshake'
Anyway, I always prefer someone to doff their cap when they meet me.
 
I would rather not shake hands at all to be honest. Stupid way of greeting people. I feel the immediate need to wash my hands when some one shakes mine. I make judgment of a person over the coming days.
 
robj20 said:
I would rather not shake hands at all to be honest. Stupid way of greeting people. I feel the immediate need to wash my hands when some one shakes mine. I make judgment of a person over the coming days.
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With the amount of people I see not washing their hands after using a toilet I can certainly understand that.
 
It's interesting how the differ by culture. We know what a handshake should feel like here and what a week handshake may represent but I find when working internationally (which is most of my work) you can't really gauge anything from it. North America and Latin America is similar to here. Firm handshakes abound. In Asia and the Middle East let me slide this kipper in and out of your hand as fast as possible.
 
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