The awkward moment. You know what I’m talking about – when you greet someone and you instantly feel that you’ve over-stepped the mark somehow. It’s a vibe, an energy that tells you “hey, no hug please, just a peck on the cheek for me”. But it’s too late, you’ve already gone in for the hug and the kiss. Why is there no set guidelines for this? A Frenchman once told me that in France when greeting someone, you should always kiss on the cheek twice and three times for close and respected friends or acquaintances. Ok, that’s a pretty clear guideline, right? But then I’ve also read that it’s different all over France, it depends on region and class too. What’s a girl to do?
Karl Largerfeld greets Chinese actress Yao Chen with three kisses.
Some of my friends prefer a simple non-committal peck on the cheek greeting. No hug thank you. Other friends like to be greeted with a hug and a kiss and some even like to be held in the hug for a bit of time. Other friends don’t even want to be touched. I now have to go through a mental list when greeting my friends as to how they prefer to be greeted! It’s a social etiquette minefield. My eldest daughter has Asperger’s syndrome and has very little understanding of social etiquette. She is beginning a course this week that runs for 10 weeks on social skills and tools. I am told that this course instils many wonderful life-skills and will give her new confidence. I wonder if she will then be able to enlighten me on the do’s and dont’s of meeting and greeting people!
Some times I’m greeted by new acquaintances with a hug and a kiss – usually these are people who have met me through a friends or a relative, so I guess they feel like the know me enough. I do love to greet my friends with a big hug but I think I tend to give a kiss on the check as I’m already there, right? What do you think, is a kiss and a hug too much? Is it too intimate, even for good friends? Argh, it’s all too confusing.