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« Get Some Unusual Suspects | Main | Batten Down The Hatches »

Don't Shake On It

Glenn suggests something that I've thought for years--that the social nicety of handshaking should be strongly discouraged if not abolished. I've been in a position in the last few years to not have as many meetings with people in business situations as I used to, and I've noticed a huge drop in instances of colds (e.g., I can't recall the last time I had one).

I'll bet that we would see many billions of dollars per year in increased productivity, reduced medical expenses, and even, in the case of some older people, decreased mortality. It seems a very high price to pay for an archaic tradition meant to show that we're unarmed, particularly when, with modern weaponry, we can pack concealed...

Posted by Rand Simberg at October 27, 2003 08:32 AM

Comments

Perhaps we should look to current anti-AIDS measures for the solution. Surely advocating abstinence from manual contact can be no more effective or realistic than advocating abstinence from sexual contact - which we already know is completely ineffective and unrealistic because NPR tells us that.

Perhaps an effective and realistic solution, modeled on much current public health policy in the sexual arena (so to speak), would be to encourage the wearing of FULL BODY CONDOMS outside the home. Churches, schools and health clinics could distribute them for free.

Just a thought.

Posted by Robert Musil at October 27, 2003 11:05 AM

Aaahh, let's just do that Russki fake-kiss-on-both-sides-of-the-head thing instead.

Posted by Jay Manifold at October 27, 2003 12:40 PM

Rather than the double kiss, we should adopt the Asian bow. It shows respect without touching or invading the others personal space.

Posted by ruprecht at October 27, 2003 12:43 PM

I've always viewed The Donald as kind of a flake.

Fewer colds than in the past? Rand, couldn't that be due to fewer meetings? Close quarters in the office (think cubicles) are probably more of a risk than physical contact.

I do know my respiratory illness susceptibility dropped when I moved from a cubicle environment to an older style office with a door.

Of course, that would entail a shift in work places that certain people would not like.

Posted by Chuck Divine at October 27, 2003 12:44 PM

Another issue is the sad fact that many folks don't bother to wash their hands after using the restroom, then they of course touch the door on the way out. I'm no germophobe but that can't be helping matters.

Posted by ruprecht at October 27, 2003 12:46 PM

Chuck, it's pretty well established that physical contact is the prevalent form of transmission of rhinoviri, and that handshakes (and yes, the bathroom door, and flush handle thing--that's why so many urinals now have autoflushers on them) lead the list.

Posted by Rand Simberg at October 27, 2003 12:50 PM

> increased mortality

Erm, is that really what you meant?

Posted by Ron Garret at October 27, 2003 04:21 PM

No, I probably had it right the first time. Let's just say increased chance of early death...

Posted by Rand Simberg at October 27, 2003 04:34 PM

This isn't a very scientific remark, but this is borderline hypochondria. What about those of us that live in a metropolitian area where we come in constant physical contact with people all day long? This morning on the bus, we were packed like sardines. During the winter months, more people take the bus instead of walking because of colder weather and winter is peak time for the flu. Is the government going to provide us with individual modes of public transportation for fear of the sniffles? The questioning of handshaking is relevant, but its cessation is something that wouldn't solve the problem for people living in more dense areas. There are certain risks that we learn to live with. For people living in a city, there are still a million and one ways that you come in contact with people and the elimination of handshaking probably wouldn't make much of a difference.

Posted by Doug at October 27, 2003 05:01 PM

It's definitely touching that spreads most of it - but that's because we then touch our eyes or nose and get the germs in our mucus membranes. The cold germs don't go through the skin on our hands to make us sick. I used to have a cold at least every other month. I finally got tired of it, and made a concerted effort to change it. I keep Purell (the hand sanitizer) with me - small bottle in my purse, large bottle in my desk - and use it throughout the day. After I leave a public restroom, for instance (including at work) - washing your hands if fine, but who knows what's lurking on that door handle? I don't push the elevator button with my index finger (which I would later use to rub my eye) - I use my knuckle. I'm particularly careful after shaking hands with someone to not touch my eyes or nose until I can use the Purell, even if that person doesn't seem to have a cold (who knows what's on their hands?). At the office, I clean my own phone occasionally, since others sometimes use it, and I try NEVER to use a pay phone (if I had to, I would rub some Purell on the receiver first. I also clean the doorknobs occasionally.

Prissy? Anal? Who cares? I haven't had a cold in years - the closest I've come is bronchitis last spring, and that's a different disease. Yes, it took a little work and a lot of paying attention at first, but now it's a habit and I don't even think about it. (And no, I don't use the Purell in front of the person I just shook hands with - I wait for a private moment.)

Posted by Barbara Skolaut at October 27, 2003 05:51 PM

Your everyday exposure to common germs helps stimulate your immune system to fight such things. If you reduced your contact with other sources of non-lethal germs, then you would most likely have a reduced capacity to fight off new invaders.

Didn't your mom make you spend some time with the neighbor kids when they got the chicken pox?

Posted by John at October 28, 2003 12:22 AM

John,

It appears that Barbara's techniques work. How much exposure to common germs is required for a healthy immune system and how much exposure is too much? She may be better off than the people who get sick on a regular basis. Personally, I find that getting a lot of sleep really helps prevent disease and reduces the severity of diseases I already have.

Posted by Karl Hallowell at October 28, 2003 04:18 AM

I can see it now... absolute isolation from germs from prenatal to full adulthood with never a sniffle... then the whole planet gets a nasty cold and dies.

I do have to admit I hate touching the doorknob of a bathroom even to the point of pushing them open with my foot when that's an option.

Posted by ken anthony at October 28, 2003 07:04 AM

Of course, given the possibility of bio-warfare, perhaps the best way to demonstrate (at least symbolically) that I'm unarmed is to offer my unlatex-wrapped hand.

Posted by Andrew at October 28, 2003 09:56 AM

John comments:

Your everyday exposure to common germs helps stimulate your immune system to fight such things.

I had the chicken pox as a child, as well as measles, rubella, mumps, whooping cough (pertussis), pneumonia, and enough colds and flu to qualify me for an award from Kleenex. If that builds immunity, I should be immune from everything! :-)

Karl's right - enough sleep helps, too.

Posted by Barbara Skolaut at October 28, 2003 03:28 PM


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