The Global Gesture

A handshake. It can be a formal way to greet someone or a creative commotion of hands that you and your friend made up one night. Most people have at least one special handshake with someone. Whether it is a simple dap up and some high fives, or a concoction of feet touching and high fives that took weeks to master. 

I remember seeing my brother and his friends do simple handshakes all the time. “Slide me some skin,” one would say. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and would always try to join in. Unfortunately, like most older brothers, mine was too much of a jerk to let me have the opportunity to feel like one of them. I felt as lonely as a pond in the desert. “Maybe my friends and I could make a handshake!” I would think to myself with excitement. However, whenever my friends and I would try, it never ended up as cool as my brother’s. 

As I grew a little older and my brother and I matured a little, he finally let me join in on this masterpiece that I had been watching for years. SLAP! As our hands hit one another it felt like I already knew it and within less than a minute, I felt like a pro.

A handshake is a traditional gesture of greeting and respect, but can be used in a multitude of ways. Friends use crazy ones to greet each other, and salesmen use a conventional one to close deals on cars. However you use a handshake, it is a worldwide gesture that can create a powerful connection between the two people.