On Shaking Hands

- A. G. Gardiner
Objectives:
• To help you comprehend the importance of shaking hands
• To make you understand the importance of physical greetings in different
cultures
• To sensitize you to other cultures

About the author

Alfr
Alfred
ed Geor
George
ge Gard
Gardin
iner
er was
was born
born in Chelm
Chelmsfo
sford
rd the
the son
son of a cabi
cabine
net!m
t!mak
aker
er and
and
alcoho
alcoholic"
lic" As a boy he worked
worked at the Chelmsfo
Chelmsfordrd Chroni
Chronicle
cle and the #ourne
#ournemou
mouthth
$irectory" %e joined the &orthern $aily Telegraph in '(() which had been founded the
year
year befo
before
re by Thom
Thomasas *urv
*urvis
is +itz
+itzem
ema"
a" ,n '(--
'(-- he was
was appo
appoin
inted
ted edito
editorr of the
the
#lackburn .eekly Telegraph"
Alfred George Gardiner /'(012'-304 was a #ritish journalist and author" %is essays
written
written under
under the pen!na
pen!name
me Alpha
Alpha of the *lough
*lough are highly
highly regarded"
regarded" %e was also also
Chairman of the &ational Anti!5weating 6eague an advocacy group which campaigned
for a minimum wagewage in industry"
industry" 5ome of his essays
essays are *rophets *riests
*riests and 7ings
7ings
/'-8(4*illars of 5ociety The .ar 6ords *ebbles on the 5hore.indfalls 96eaves in the
.indThe Anglo!American uture.hat , saw in Germany: letters from Germany and
Austria and 6ife of George Cadbury include his later works"

Pre-reading Activity

Discuss the following in pairs or groups:

'" .hat do
do you do to greet these
these people
people when you meet
meet them after a long
long time;
time;
a4 your friends b4 your
your family
family members!
members! cousins of your
your age
age c4 your family members!
uncles and aunts or grannies
<" .hen
.hen someone
someone comes
comes and says
says what you
you do customar
customarily
ily at your
your home
home is wrong
wrong
how do you react;
=" .hat do
do you
you know
know about
about shaking
shaking hands; .hom do you
you usually
usually shake
shake hands
hands with;
with;

+ead the following essay and check if what you know about shaking hands is same as what
is described in the essay"

If there is one custom that might be assumed to be beyond criticism it

is the custom
cus tom of shaking
shaking hands; but it seems that even this innocent
innocent and
amiable practice is upon its trial. A heavy indictment  has been directed
against it in the ress on hygienic grounds! and we are urged to adopt
some healthier mode of e"pressing our mutual emotion when we meet
or part. I think it would need a pretty sti# Act of arliament and a heavy
code
code of penalties
penalties to break
break us of soingrained  a habit. $f course! there
are many people in the world who go through life without ever shaking
 hands. robably! most people in the world manage to do so. %he
 &apanese bows! and the Indian salaams! and the 'hinese make a grave
motion of the hand! and the Arab touches the breast of his friend at
parting with the tips of his (ngers.

)y comparison with these modes of salutation it may be that our

*estern custom of shaking each other by the hand seems coarse and
bucolic! +ust as our custom of promiscuouskissing seems an
unintelligible indecency to the &apanese! to whom osculation   has an
e"clusive se"ual signi(cance that we do not attach to it. In the matter of 
kissing! it is true; we have become much more restrained than our
ancestors. ,veryone has read the famous passage in ,rasmus letters in
which he describes how people used to kiss in %udor ,ngland! and how! by
the way, that learned and holy men en+oyed it. e could not write so of us
today. And there is one connection in which kissing has never been a
common form of salutation with us. /asculine kissing is an entirely
'ontinental habit! chie0y cultivated among the 1ussians. %he greatest
display of kissing I have ever witnessed was at rince 2ropotkins house3
he was then living at )righton3 on his seventieth birthday. A procession of 
aged and bearded 1ussian patriarchs came to bring greetings! and as
each one entered the room he rushed at the sage! 0ung his arms about
his neck! and gave him a resounding smack   on eachwhiskered cheek!
and 2ropotkin gave resounding smacks in return.
 %his is carrying heartiness too far for our austere tastes. I do not think
that ,nglishmen could be bribed to kiss each other! but I cannot
conceive that they will ever be argued out of shaking hands with each
other. A greeting which we really feel without a grip of the hand to
accompany it would seem like a repulse! or a sacrilege. It would be a
bond without the seal3as cold as a stepmothers breath! as o4cial as a
typewritten letter with a typewritten signature. It would be like denying our
hands their natural o4ce. %hey would revolt. %hey would not remain in
our pockets or behind our backs or toying with a button. *e should have
to chain them up! so instinctive and impetuous is their impulse to leap at
a brother hand.
5o doubt the custom has its disadvantages. *e all know hands that we
should prefer not to shake! warm! clammy hands! listless! faccid
hands! bony! energetic hands. %he horror and loathing  with which
6riah eap (lled our youthful mind was conveyed more through the
touch of his hand than by any other circumstance. It was a
cold!.dank hand that left us haunted with the sense of obscene and
creepy things. I know the touch of that hand as though it had lain in
mine! and whenever I feel such a hand now the vision of a
cringingfawning (gure damns the possessor of it in my mind
beyond reprieve. It may be un+ust! but the hand-clasp is no bad clue
 to moral as well as physical health. %here is death in that hand was
'oleridges remark after parting from 2eats! and there are times when
we can say with no less con(dence that there is pollution! or
dishonesty! or candour! or courage in that hand.
7ome personalities seem to resolve themselves into a handshake. It is
so elo8uent that it leaves nothing more to be discovered about them.
 %here is eaker! the publisher! for e"ample! who advances with
outstretched hand and places it in yours as though it is something he
wants to get rid of. It is a cold pudding of a hand! or a warm pudding of 
a hand! according to the weather! but! cold or warm! it is e8ually a
pudding. *hat are you to do with it9 It obviously doesnt belong to
eaker! or he would not be so an"ious to get rid of it. ou cant shake it!
for it is as unresponsive as a +elly-(sh! and no one can shake hands
heartily with a +elly-(sh. and-shaking must be mutual! or it is not at all.
7o you +ust hold it as long as civility demands! and then gently return it
to eaker! who goes and tries to get someone else to take it of his hands!
so to speak. And at the other e"treme is that hearty fellow 7tubbings! the
sort of man who hails you %om or &ack! and proves by thumping on
your back how he esteems your merit.

)ut he does not thump you on the back. e takes your hand3if you are
foolish enough to lend it to him3and crushes it into a +umble of aching
bones and shakes your arm well-nigh out of its socket. %hats the sort
of man I am! he seems to say. 5othing half-hearted about me!
sir.orkshire to the backbone.&annock right through! sir. $h! torture<= And
Im glad to see you! sir. Another +erk=. e restores your hand! a
mangled  pain! and you are careful not to trust him with it again at
parting. And there is the limp and lingering hand that seems so
overcharged with a#ection that it does not know when to go! but lies in
your palm until you feel tempted to throw it out of the window. )ut
though there are hands that make you shudder and hands that make
you writhe! the ritual is worth the occasional penalty we have to pay
for it. It is the happy mean between the $rientals formal salaam and
the 1ussians enormous hug! and if it has less dignity than it has more
warmth and more of the spirit of human comradeship. *e shall need a
lot of medical evidence before we cease to say with the most friendly of 
all poets:

Glossary
Amiable : having or displaying a friendly and pleasant manner 
Indictment : a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime.
Ingrained : (of a habit, belief, or attitude) firmly fixed or established; difficult to change.
Bucolic : relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life.
 Promiscuous : demonstrating or implying an unselective approach; indiscriminate or casual
sculation : to touch
!mac" : a sharp slap or blo#, typically one given #ith the palm of the hand
 $ustere : severe or strict in manner or attitude.
!acrilege : violation or misuse of #hat is regarded as sacred
Impetuous : acting or done %uic"ly and #ithout thought or care
&laccid : soft and hanging loosely or limply, especially so as to loo" or feel unpleasant
>oathing : a feeling of intense disli"e or disgust; hatred.
'ringing : bend ones head and body in fear or apprehension or in a servile manner 
'andour : the %uality of being open and honest; fran"ness
humping : of an impressive si*e, extent, or amount.
+angled : destroy or severely damage by tearing or crushing.
rithe : ma"e t#isting, s%uirming movements or contortions of the body.

Comprehension Questions

'4 .hat is represented by shaking hands;

<4 .hat is the ingrained habit given in the essay;
=4 .hat are the modes of greetings for >apanese ,ndians Chinese and the Arabs;
34 $oes the author support or oppose the culture of kissing; Give reasons from the te?t to
support your answer"
14 %ow does A"G"Gardinerelude greeting without a handshake;
04 .hat according to the authorare the disadvantages of shaking hands;
)4 .hen do we hesitate to give hand shake to others;
(4 According to the author how should the hand shake be;
-4 %ow does he differentiate shaking hands with different people;
'84 .hich culture of greeting would you mostly support;

Think Critically
'" $o you agree with the author on his comments about ,ndian and +ussian greetings and
hand shake of #ritish being a mid!way decent greeting when compared to the other two;
@?plain with e?amples"
<" ,f you are supposed to attend an interview what seems to be customary to greet the
interviewer/s4 there; $oes difference in gender have anything to do with your greetings;
%ow;
=" ,dentify the structure of this argumentative essay" ark which parts of the essay fall under 
these categories:
'" ,ntroduction to the issue
<" main advantages with e?amples
=" other advantages
3" disadvantages
1" conclusion supporting advantages

Vocabulary

Fill the following blanks with suitable form of phrasal verbs from the box given
below using the hints given in the brackets

 $s"ed $fter $s" $round /ro#n a#ay from

/ro# bac" /re# to 0old bac" 0eld out
0eld over 1umped off 1umped on

'" >enny rang earlier and BBBBBBBBBBB you so , told her you were fine" /@nuire about
someoneDs health4
<" , have no idea but ,Dll BBBBBBBBBBBB at work and see if anyone can help" /Ask a number
of people for information of help4
=" , have BBBBBBBBBB many of the people , grew up with"/#ecome less friendly with4
3" &ails BBBBBBBBB uickly after you cut them"/Grow again4
1" .e BBBBBBBBBBB like the neighborhood"/@ventually do something4
0" ,t was really hard to BBBBBBBBBB the tears /&ot show emotion4
)" .hen the enemy attacked they BBBBBBBBBBB for si? weeks" /+esisted4
(" The meeting has been BBBBBBBBBBB till riday /$elay4
-" The ,*O BBBBBBBBBB on the first day"/5tart uickly4
-. @veryone BBBBBBBBBB me when , raised the issue"/Criticize attack4

Grammar
1. ake a list of 18 actions that can be part of your day to day work" Add a noun to it if
necessary to e?plain the action" or e?ample: shake /action4 hands/noun4 blink /action4
eyes /noun4"

<" &ow divide the actions according the time: actions that you did yesterday actions you
do today and what you will do tomorrow"

Eesterday Today Tomorrow

=" &ow use at least '8 action from each time in your own sentences"
or e?ample:
Eesterday: et a friend: Eesterday evening , met a friend of mine in the market"
Today: go to college: Today , am going to college"
Tomorrow: watch a movie: Tomorrow , will watch a movie with the members of my family"

Writing: Argumentative essay

The essay FOn 5haking %ands is a well!structured argumentative essa y as you must have
noticed with the help of the previous e?ercise /Think critically H"=4
ake a list of the differences between what you usually consider as the structure of an essay"
 @55AE A+GI@&TAT,J@ @55AE
Type of topic
structure
language
,mportance of 
e?amples

Task: .rite an argumentative on F5ciences are better than arts to make our living more
comfortable and meaningful"
The steps to start writing an argumentative essay are:
*repare an outline for the essay with the points that you have to argue for and against the
given topic"

*oints in support of 5cience *oints in support of arts

 #ased on the number of points and their strength develop an essay in the structure give to
you in H"="

Lie !kills: Cultural !ensitivity an" Cross cultural Communication.

,ndia is a country with wide cultural diversity" .e are born amidst different languages
customs and rituals that vary from door to door in a group of families that live in a particular 
area or village" Tolerance to othersK customs and traditions is part of our lives"

Cultural !ensitivity is a set of skills that enables you to learn about and get to know people
who are different from you thereby coming to understand how to serve them better within
their own communities" ,t also means that cultural differences and similarities e?ist and have
an impact on the values learning and behavior of an individual"

#ea" the ollo$ing anecdote to understand cultural sensitivity better:

Avery >ones a 11!year!old African American woman has not been feeling well" 5ince she is
new in town and has not yet had a chance to establish care with a physician she decides to go
to $r" >ames orrison at her friendDs recommendation" Ipon their first meeting the =<!year!
old $r" orrison introduces himself as D$r" orrisonD and calls her DAveryD" $r" orrison then
assumes that she is on edicaid/ state program that helps low!income individuals or families
 pay for the costs associated with long!term medical and custodial care4" Avery >ones leaves
$r" orrisonDs practice upset and decides to find a different doctor" $r" orrison is obviously
confused about her response" 5o what did he do wrong;

,n this e?ample $r" orrison was not being culturally sensitive" ,n many cultures it is
customary to call people by their last names especially when they are older than you" 5ince
$r" orrison called his patient DAveryD instead of Drs" >onesD she took it as a sign of 
disrespect" To make matters worse $r" orrison assumed that Avery was on edicaid based
solely upon his initial impression of her" This not only upset rs" >ones but also prevented
her from getting the medical treatment that she needed"

5o what would the culturally sensitive approach look like; ,nstead of calling her DAveryD $r"
orrison would have asked her how she would like to be addressed" %e could then make a
note in her chart so that all of the staff know to address her as Drs" >onesD" ,nstead of 
assuming that rs" >ones was on edicaid $r" orrison would have asked her if she had
medical insurance and who her insurance provider was" Or maybe he would have avoided the
subject all together as most practices have a billing department that handles insurance
matters"

'" .ho do you think is culturally more insensitive $r orrison or Avery >ones; .hy;
<" $oes addressing by your first or last name matter in your culture; %ow important is the
difference;
=" .hat must $r" orrison have done to upset Avery >ones in his treatment as edicaid;
3" Are the solutions to the issue with Avery >ones similar in all cultures; .hyL.hy not;

!peak: Cross cultural Communication

Our culture influences many aspects of our lives" ,t influences how we interact with others
and with the world around us" *eople who are culturall y sensitive are able to function in other 
cultures" They value and respect diversity and are open to learning things from the point of 
view of others" %ere is an activity that helps you
ake a list of activities that you find strange about others" They can be related to the way
they celebrate a festive or a family functions" &ote down how you responded to it / physically
and verbally4
orm into pairs and discuss with your partner if the activities that are strange for you seem to
 be the same him or her" *resent the same to the class inviting others comments and
understand the tolerance levels of yours and others"