Odd as it might sound, this new form of greeting could help keep you healthy
You’ve heard time and time again that the best cold and flu prevention is to wash your hands.
Well, some people are taking that a step further and ‘washing their hands’ of the custom of shaking hands.
It’s called the “fist bump” movement, and it’s popping (or bumping) up all over the place. Even people like Donald Trump and Howie Mandel are doing it.
According to a new group called Stop Handshaking, “80 percent of infections are transmitted by hands.” And then there’s that delicate topic to which an entire episode of Seinfeld was devoted — those who fail to wash their hands after using the bathroom. The group says studies show a lot of people, well, just don’t bother.
The site quotes the Mayo Clinic’s comment about refusing to shake hands with people: “You are not rejecting them or calling their personal hygiene into question. You are simply reducing your exposure to germs that they unknowingly carry.”
In some places — churches in Winnipeg, Canada, for example — they’re going so far as to ban the traditional handshake altogether.
If you decide to hop on this bandwagon, you might want to order the group’s lapel pin so people you meet don’t get the wrong idea.
It has a red line through a handshake and says “No offense, it just makes sense.”
