Like many people, I’ve been paying attention to what Dr. Anthony Fauci has been saying throughout this coronavirus pandemic. He’s this country’s leading expert on infectious diseases and is well-respected by medical professionals around the world. Most of what I’ve been hearing him say makes sense, and I’ve trusted his opinion like no other.
However, last week he came out and said he didn’t think we should ever shake hands with people any more.
What?
I like to shake hands. I enjoy this when I meet somebody for the first time or if it’s been a while since I’ve seen them. I like to shake hands to congratulate or to finalize something. A good, firm handshake can go a long way to establishing trust and showing caring and compassion.
Dr. Fauci has said that by not shaking hands, we could reduce the transmission of the coronavirus and other strains of disease such as influenza. How about if we keep washing our hands and not touching our face and coughing and sneezing into our elbows? Then can we shake hands?
I did a little research into hand-shaking. Apparently, this has been a thing since at least the ninth century B.C., based on some ancient art that has been found. One of the main reasons we started shaking hands was that it set people up as equals, unlike bowing or curtsying, which show that you are somehow lesser than the other person. Shaking hands can also convey a lot of information without words.
What do we do now? Salute everyone?
Listen, I know we’re going to have to change some parts of our lives because of this pandemic. I’m accepting of that and willing to do things that aren’t necessarily comfortable at first for the good of the cause. But I feel like we’re taking away something very important in the handshake.
And here’s where things get really loopy. I read another article that was talking about New York City and how many more pedestrians and bicyclists there are in that metropolis now. I’m sure that’s the case everywhere. This is good for the environment by reducing auto emissions; it is also good for people to get more exercise.
Where this article went off the rails for me was the suggestion that we should eliminate the walk button at crosswalks since those could spread disease.
Wait, what?
Where do we draw the line? Are we now going to try to avoid every disease known to humans? Should we walk around in bubbles when we go outside?
I’m convinced this is a bad idea. We need to be exposed to germs. We build our immune system by having germs make their way through our system. I have no proof of this, but our overly-clean society that we’ve been building for some time is in direct correlation to the severity of diseases like the coronavirus. For every time you use antibacterial soap to wash your hands, germs have to work harder to evolve and mutate into something that will get past that.
Have no doubt that something’s coming that soap won’t kill. (It’s probably already out there, but I’m no epidemiologist.) Then what will we do? Going into lockdown every time a new disease appears will become untenable. I’ve been supportive of most of what the government says we should be doing. Saving lives is important, and it’s a tough balance between that and saving the economy.
We’re simply too clean at times. When I was a young lad, I’d play outside for hours, come in for supper, and run some water over my hands, often without soap. After all, I was eager to eat. Knock on wood, I’ve by and large maintained pretty good health over the years. Did I help myself by not being as clean as I could have been all those years ago?
I’m not condoning going about your life without washing your hands, especially after being in the bathroom! But I have days that my hands are so raw because I’m more conscious of washing them than ever with the chaos in the world. That can’t be good for me either.
Like all of you, I’d like things to return to normal. It’s not happening. Big changes came about after 9/11, and you probably don’t think about them as much anymore, but they were startling when they happened after that tragedy. I think we’ll face some of that moving forward.
Just think of how long it will be before you watch a television show or movie and don’t think, “Well, those people sure aren’t social distancing,” or, “Why are there so many people gathered in that place?” You’ve been thinking those things, haven’t you? (If not, you will now. Sorry.)
I just really want some things that are comforting to remain. Shaking hands is one of those things. I’m not really a big hugger, except for congratulatory or sympathetic situations, so I wouldn’t miss hugging as much. Let’s agree to all this, okay? Good, now let’s shake on it.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is phiz, which means a facial expression, as in, “The phiz of fear from the other person when he extended his hand to shake showed that people were still afraid of the coronavirus.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!