What does your handshake say?

A couple of weeks ago I heard a podcast where The Public Speaker was talking about shaking hands and the proper way to do so. One thing I found interesting was what she had to say about types of handshakes and what they mean. I did a little more reading on the subject this week.

HandshakeAccording to The Public Speaker there are different ways to shake hands based on country and culture. In the US we like a firm handshake that neither crushes the hand nor feels like a limp noodle. There are variations as to how long you should linger holding hands based on many unspoken cues. There is also meaning in the way you hold your hand during the shake. Humorously, I have read that the sandwich, or two-handed handshake should be reserved for politicians and clergy. Maybe that is why I have a tendency to shake with two hands.

When one person turns their hand palm down during the shake that indicates they are the dominant one. They communicate that they are in charge. The one whose’ palm is face up is supposed to be the submissive one. Ideally you would see yourselves as equals and have your palms perpendicular to the floor.

Last week we met a man who shook my wife’s hand first and intentionally turned her hand palm down. He was indicating that he was “at her service.” When he shook my hand he kept our palms as equals.

After doing all this reading, I had a funny thing happen to me. There is a lady at church that I have been wanting to talk with, but did not take the time to call her. I figured I would just see her at church. I was pleased to walk into church 15 minutes early the other day and see her. As I approached her she started walking towards me with her arm outstretched for a handshake. Her palm was down. That meant nothing to me a couple of weeks ago, but this time it did. She was one of my teachers in college. Though I see us as equals, I needed to talk with her about an area of her expertise. That pronounced the fact that she was in charge of the conversation.

This is just something I would have never noticed before.

Anthony Kearns Concert

Anthony KearnsTonight I went to hear Anthony Kearns sing. He is one of The Irish Tenors. I floundered all day as to whether I was going to go and finally decided at the last minute that I would make the effort. It was well worth it.

One thing I noticed tonight is that Irish folk music is much more lighthearted than Italian opera. I was expecting a heavier opera repertoire but was pleased to see songs such as Star of the County Down, Kitty of Coleraine and McBreen’s Heifer on the program. How can one not enjoy a song by a famous tenor with the word heifer in the title?

While Kearns was worth going to hear by himself, his pianist was an act of his own. Between sets of songs, the pianist Patrick Healy would entertain the crowd with a few stories and a couple of songs. Mr. Healy looked to be in his 70s, but still played and sang well. He is an accomplished musician on his own and has traveled with Kearns for the last 12 years. Healy wrote some of the songs in the program this evening.

I don’t know if the program was chosen based on the fact that he was performing at a college campus, or if he regularly sings such light music. It certainly was more enjoyable than I expected. If you have an opportunity to hear him in person, I would recommend it. Kearns and Healy make a great team and the audience can tell they enjoy working with one another.

Stating the obvious

Today I was in a Mexican restaurant for lunch. On the section of quesadillas there was a line of small text under the heading that read, “All quesadillas include cheese.” Without the cheese it could not be a quesadilla.

Tonight I was reading through the paper and they were telling the story about a teen who was shot. “The victim, described as a male teen …. was reportedly shot in the back. He was shot at least once.” That kind of makes sense to me that if he was shot at all, he was shot at least once.

Traffic Gimmick

I did the post about the page 56 meme for the sole purpose of getting people to twitter about my set of rules. This will drive traffic to my site. I am trying to see how many people I can get to hit that post. It is purely a gimmick. So far I have not had anyone (besides me) link to the rules and play the game. I have tweeted it twice.

If you are on Twitter you can help out by playing the game as listed in that post. I use about 1/100 of my alloted bandwidth a month from my web host. I need to do something to make it exciting around here.

Help a bored fellow out.