The Boy Scout handshake is with the left hand. Since it's closer to the heart, it's a symbol of friendship. I started with the right hand, but switched to left after I joined.Squid94 said:Surely the Scouts would have had you learn to shake with the right hand? That's where I learned about the tradition.Macgyvercas said:With my left hand. Carryover from Boy Scouts.
OT: With the right hand, and make it firm, but not aggressive. A proper handshake.
Interesting! I had always been told to shake with the right because it was your weapon hand (if you were in the military 'back then'), and in order to shake hands, you would have to put your weapon down, thus eliminating any offensive capability. Still, nice to hear an interesting account for why you do it differently!Macgyvercas said:The Boy Scout handshake is with the left hand. Since it's closer to the heart, it's a symbol of friendship. I started with the right hand, but switched to left after I joined.Squid94 said:Surely the Scouts would have had you learn to shake with the right hand? That's where I learned about the tradition.Macgyvercas said:With my left hand. Carryover from Boy Scouts.
OT: With the right hand, and make it firm, but not aggressive. A proper handshake.
What different cultures did you come from? I've always been taught the same as you have and I'ts mostly percieved as just being polite and usually appreciated.sanomaton said:I also do it in the manly way (though I am a woman). When I meet new people and if I chat with them for longer than a moment and notice we might hit it off I will offer my hand to introduce myself. I've been taught to do this ever since I was a child but apparently some people think it's a way of saying, "I wanna have sex with you, now!"... Which is doesn't... Cultural differences.
Oh, I'm from Northern Finland (Lapland) but I've spent a lot of time in South Finland because I went to school there. When I shook hands with the girls I lived with in the dorm they looked at me as if I was some kind of creature from outer space and guys just took it as flirting. :| Back at home it is just polite and appreciated by many.mikev7.0 said:What different cultures did you come from? I've always been taught the same as you have and I'ts mostly percieved as just being polite and usually appreciated.
See, these days, I find the double-cheek kiss thingy a little inappropriate if I meet a woman for the first time, so I shake hands firmly, but not as much as with other guys. Only when a certain level of friendly acquaintance has been achieved does the kiss-as-greeting start.Valksy said:Firm, fast.
Most of the (other) women I have shaken hands with have been limp and floppy. Learn how to do it, dammit. After a limp shake I usually want to wipe my hand on something. Be positive, be assertive.
Place I used to work was often visited by older posh blokes and they always greeted the women there with the double-cheek kiss. Yeah. I don't do that. First time a guy tried to do it to me, I stepped back and stuck out my hand.
Learn to do it. Being perceived as wimpy, no matter your gender, is just not clever.
If doing the handshake greeting for someone I did like - when they guy was landing 3 or 4 kisses on the other women - I simply added my left hand to the back of the shake so it would seem warm and friendly.
Do it right if you are going to do it.