Monday, December 7, 2015

Question of the Month with Michael D'Agostino, December 2015



Good morning, everyone! Today's question is: 

Which one social convention would you get rid of?

How about this idiotic phrase: Good morning.

Seriously? Mornings are almost always bad. People and pets interrupt your dreams just as you are about to fly to the top of Mount Olympus on the back of a fluffy pink unicorn. 

Kidding. I don't dream of fluffy pink unicorns. (They are all classic white.)

The social convention I really hate is shaking hands. Think of the germs, people. The germs! This dislike didn't start until my kids went to Montessori School (which is fabulous btw, except for this hand-shaking biz). Every morning the children would shake hands with their teacher before entering the classroom.

Do you have any idea what children under the age of five do with their hands? It's revolting, I promise. So basically (unless the teacher has a pump sanitizer on stand-by), your kid is shaking hands with all the other germ-factories every single morning. Now that I think about it, this may have been a clever way to inspire parents to get their kids to school early just to be first in the hand-shaking line. That way you could cut down on the hand-to-hand germ dispersal quite a bit.

I know what you're thinking. How, then, should people greet each other with mutual respect? I'd like to switch to a traditional Asian greeting. Keep your germs to yourself, press your own two filthy paws together, and bow. It's quite respectful and looks way cooler.

So in closing, I'd like to apologize to the travel agent I shook hands with the other week. I was sucking down cough drops like a fiend our entire session, and I know she was hesitant to shake my hand. I should have fessed up and told her I'd been sick and we should just skip it, but that seemed rude somehow. Lady, I'm sorry to tell you, I was one day away from completing my antibiotics for pneumonia. I hope I didn't ruin your Thanksgiving. And Good Morning!

The Question of the Month Bloghop is hosted by Michael D'Agostino at A Life Examined. Click here to check it out.

20 comments:

  1. I'm not big on shaking hands either. I'd rather just smile, nod, give a little wave, say "hello" - something along those more germ-free lines.

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  2. Ha! I like the idea of bowing instead of shaking hands. It would be way cooler.

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  3. That's the second time someone has said shaking hands and you're right - hands are often just as dirty as money.

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  4. I was going to use this one at first, but then I saw it used elsewhere and decided to go with the convention that disturbs me even more.

    But I agree. I try to avoid shaking hands if I can and when I do shake a lot of hands I'm off to wash them or put sanitizer on them. I can be kind of a germiphobe at times.

    Arlee Bird
    Wrote By Rote

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  5. Yeah, there is little good about mornings. haha I shake hands as very little as possible. If I do, I run and wash them as soon as I can and until i can I treat my hand like it has the plague and don't use it haha

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  6. LOL about mornings. My husband and I used to play this game as teachers. When we walked into school in the morning and people would say good morning to us we would answer in kind or just say 'morning' because there was nothing good about it. Then we would laugh at our secret joke and it would cheer us up.

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  7. LOL about mornings. My husband and I used to play this game as teachers. When we walked into school in the morning and people would say good morning to us we would answer in kind or just say 'morning' because there was nothing good about it. Then we would laugh at our secret joke and it would cheer us up.

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  8. Sorry I didn't answer the Question this month. I hate shaking hands. I'm an introvert so it feels so awkward. And I would've felt weird shaking hands with my teacher every morning. I'd rather just smile and say, "Good morning."

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  9. Sorry I didn't answer the Question this month. I hate shaking hands. I'm an introvert so it feels so awkward. And I would've felt weird shaking hands with my teacher every morning. I'd rather just smile and say, "Good morning."

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  10. Hahaha girl, shaking hands is gross!! I used to love how the Japanese would just bow to you at my old job.

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  11. Two very good ones. Kids are the germiest little creatures on earth!

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  12. Lol, as a former kindergarten teacher, I must say that Germ-X was my friend. I had all my students use it before lunch.

    Speaking of mornings, I couldn't resist quoting Gandalf: "What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

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  13. Yeah, I'm not a fan of hand-shaking either. You should watch Tim Hawkins' treatise on hand sanitizer; you'd get a kick out of it :)

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  14. I... neither of these things bother me much! I mean, I'd broaden 'good morning' to all small talk. So annoying and boring!

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  15. Tamara, like Michael I suggest a fist bump.

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  16. Question of the month; that's cool. Think I have to sign up for this as well. On this month's question I would reply wearing a tie, monogamy, or Christmas celebration >:)

    Cold As Heaven

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  17. لا تنزلق أو تسحب الأثاث على طول الأرضية الصلبة. استخدام دوللي السجاد أو الأثاث المنزلق للأثاث مع سطح مستو.
    شركة نقل عفش
    شركة نقل عفش من الرياض الى الامارات

    شركة نقل اثاث من الرياض الى الامارات
    شركة نقل عفش بالقطيف

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I will do everything in my power to visit commenter's blogs unless I've been abducted by aliens or my children get sick. (If my children get abducted by aliens, I will be very busy, of course, catching up on my sleep.)