Yup. I mean, just think about what we are all constantly touching with our hands.
I went around and cultured some stuff around the office because I have too much down time.
#1 grossest thing?
Keyboards. By far. I lost count of the number of colonies on the small agar plate, somewhere around 300.
#2 grossest thing?
Any cellphone. They’re all covered in shit.
#3
Doorknobs
#4
Sinks. Worse than urinals and toilets by a lot. Especially sinks that come in contact with food. Bathroom sinks are much cleaner than cafeteria and kitchen sinks.
Now think about what your mouth comes into contact with. And keep in mind we have a whole chunk of immune system dedicated to keeping it relatively clean and disease-free.
The one post pointing out that this is an English study seems to have gone largely unnoticed. I haven’t read the paper but I would guess the participants were largely white English. This kind of behaviour is quite normal as we still cling to our Victorian hang ups. Some of us are trying to become more European by kissing or hugging. It is clear that we do not know how to do this culturally if you’ve ever experienced it.
But, in all seriousness, I’ve live(d) both in Spain and the Netherlands and that kissy face stuff drives me nuts. What’s wrong with a friendly wave from 2-3 feet away?
Yeah, I noticed this with my work colleagues in Spain. We were in a small team, but I was expected to approach all of my colleagues on starting a shift and greet them personally, kissing the women on the cheek. If I didn’t, they would ask if something was wrong. I can’t remember whether you were supposed to hug the guys or shake their hands, but I’ve been in contexts where hugging was normal. I really don’t find it that weird - it’s kind of like beaches in Europe where women go topless. If you are only used to seeing that in a more sexual context, it might seem inappropriate at first. Once you see it in its actual context where people are just expressing their cultural values and being comfortable around each other, it’s not that difficult to get over.
But also, #notallanglos - it’s normal for my extended family to greet each other with a kiss or hug, although I wouldn’t do it in the UK outside of that context.
It’s not the kissing, it’s the number of kisses that’s always the issue.
1, 2 or 3? You will always get it wrong.
It’s worse than trying to plug in a USB.
Just like with USB keyboards… when you’re in the US, it will likely read “QWERTY”, when you’re in Germany or Austria, it will read “QWERTZ” and in France it’ll be “AZERTY”. Confusion only ensues if you borrow a foreigner’s computer.
I routinely use US and DE layouts - switching keyboards takes some time until I don’t have to peek anymore, depending on my caffeine level between a couple and 10 minutes.
But don’t hand me a UK layout. It is too similar to the US one, my brain is wired wrong and the UK variant is unusable.
I’m living in Paris, the standard here is two kisses. My impression is that you sort of do it because everyone does it, even if you’re not necessarily all that comfortable with it. For me though coming from the countryside to such a cramped place as Paris I can see how establishing a bit of formality and normality about close contact makes it easier to have a nice night together with a big group in a small bar.
For me the main takeaway from the study is that a friendly pat on the shoulder at the right moment is a comfortable level of contact for most people.
