In this nice cartoon, Sarah Glidden looks at all the ways that people in different cultures greet each other, from the handshake to the hug to the kiss on the cheek or to the kisses on both cheeks to the namaste sign and so on, and the awkwardness that can arise when one person expects one thing and the other expects something else.
Navigating this is not easy. I myself tend to take the coward’s way out, especially when it comes to more intimate greetings like hugs and kisses, waiting until the other person makes the first move before responding similarly. By just smiling and slightly bowing or nodding my head until it is clear what is called for, I manage to avoid committing a faux pas. If the other person is similarly conflicted, then the smile and the bow/nod becomes the greeting.
But that does not solve all the problems. I recall one awkward occasion when after a long time I met a colleague with whom I am friendly. As she came close, she smiled warmly and her arms went up in what I took to be a pre-hug motion so I too went in for the hug. At the last minute I realized that what she had been intending to do was to adjust my jacket collar that had been partially turned inside. I was mortified for misconstruing her action but it was too late to back out so I hugged her anyway and she hugged me back. Embarrassing!
Even since then, though, she hugs me whenever we meet so I figure that she was not offended.
This is why I emit a small cloud of ink and scoot off in a different direction. You vertebrates are much too difficult..
My most awkward greeting was with my brother’s fiancee (now wife.) In our ethnic subculture, the usual greeting is a small kiss on the cheek with a half hug. Typically, the kiss is on the right cheek, but for some reason we were angled to go in on the left. I think we both tried to switch sides back and forth a few times, not knowing which side the other was going for…. and ended up landing right on each others lips.
I could’ve definitely used Cuttlefish’s ink cloud at that point!
The nod greeting, all a person should ever need when not meeting family and loved ones.
Mano, I’m still unable to log in to G+ or W.
Anyhow, I don’t think your awkward encounter involved incompatible greeting traditions, just an amusing misinterpretation of events, similar to waving back at a person who was actually waving to the person behind you.
Marshall,
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