Etiquette Tuesday: The Hand Shake

[ 2 ] July 28, 2010 |

After attending a “professional” networking event, I realized there are some etiquette rules that should be set in stone at these types of events.  Hence, I was inspired for this Etiquette Tuesday.  I will get straight to the point:  let’s shake hands later.  We have all been in this scenario:  At an event, the spread is predominantly finger foods and someone comes over to shake your hand just as you are about to shove that crab stuffed mushroom in your mouth.  The one passed hor d’oeuvres that you waited for all night and now the enjoyable experience is masked with the other persons sweaty hand.  Smh (*Translation: Shaking My Head).  Shaking hands is definitely a cordial gesture and you should do this in the initial meeting but for goodness sakes does it have to be at these events with the finger foods??

Here’s what I do (*or better yet, would prefer from the other person):  We are at the event, we meet, smile and greet one another minus the hand contact (*initially) and exchange all the necessary information of the typical networking session (*business cards, BBM Pins, etc.).  It would be kind of awkward for me to pull out my hand sanitizer but in my mind, that’s exactly what I want to do.  I do not know where your hands have been and you do not know where mines have been…let’s keep it safe and the contact to simply conversing.  Lucky for me, most of my social/networking events are with other foodies and looking back, there is little to no hand contact while the food is being passed around…we know the drill.

Category: Food.Fun.Stuff.

About the Author ()

Johnna French is a Harlem NY native with deep roots in Panama, Washington, DC and North Carolina. All four places have heavily influenced her life and the foods she loves today. After graduating Howard University School of Law and beginning her life as a young professional in the city she was led to start Johnna Knows Good Food in November 2007 to keep family, friends and colleagues updated on where to go and what to eat while dining in the nation’s capitol. French, who still practices law, leads a team of three writers to cover the ever expanding Washington, DC food scene. French has been featured in print and television, appearing in Washingtonian Magazine and is a regular contributor to various local TV affiliates including WUSA 9, FOX 5 DC and WJLA (ABC Affiliate) News Channel 8. During the 2016-2017 football season, Johnna aired on Comcast Sports Mid-Atlantic (CSN) show, Redskins Life, as the weekly tailgate host. Johnna is currently a regular contributor to the FOX Baltimore Weekend morning show.

Comments (2)

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  1. Yup! Really nice piece of article. Everyone should have proper etiquette. Thank you for sharing your information

  2. Very interesting article, thanks. Keep up the good work.

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