By Kevin N. Hume —
Recently, I”ve found myself slightly addicted to the show “Pawn Stars.”
Yes, it”s a reality show, the television genre that I hold in great scorn. But Pawn Stars is a show of substance, unlike the vast majority of reality shows. Because of this, I greatly enjoy the quirky little program. Plus, it features all sorts of cool gizmos and gadgets that pique my nerdiness.
While watching a small marathon of the show one day, I noticed something: Nearly every time an agreement or deal is made, the buyer (one of the show”s “characters”) and seller shake on it. Obviously, this denotes the agreement, the transfer of product. But I further noticed the cameramen always panned down and zoomed in at the moment of the handshake. You no longer saw buyer or seller, only two hands shaking.
It struck me. It further emphasized the importance of the handshake. Of course, this got my brain racing on the thought of the handshake and its role in human interaction.
I would argue that we don”t really think too much about the handshake outside of when we first meet someone, although that first initial handshake may play a large role in how you perceive that person.
For the most part, we all find a way to shake hands and stick with it. This might not apply to younger generations, however, as there are many different ways to shake hands among teens, 20- and 30-somethings, for better or worse.
Historians aren”t exactly sure when the handshake became a part of our culture, but the general consensus is that it predates written history. During the time of the Egyptians, images of handshakes occur in hieroglyphics to denote giving, such as a god transferring or giving power to a ruler.
By Medieval times, men would extend empty right hands and shake to show they were not carrying weapons to attack the other. It is further theorized that the Medieval handshake may have started by both parties grasping the other at the elbow and moving down to the hand to check for weapons, most likely evolving to the shortened form.
I suppose lefties like myself may have had an advantage in attacking opponents back then.
The handshake obviously stuck and has become one of our most important social customs. It is depicted in nearly all aspects of our culture, including music (the band Tool uses the term “smiley glad-hands” to refer to politicians and their penchant for shaking hands). We even teach our pets to shake hands.
But what I find fascinating is witnessing cultures in which the handshake is foreign.
It is an extreme rarity in our modern world, but there are still small tribes and villages in remote locations that are either mostly unfamiliar or completely unaware of modern civilization. These tribes have somehow managed to exist undiscovered for generations by sticking to ancient hunter-gatherer techniques and subsisting off the land.
Anthropologists and explorers have made many documentaries showing how chaotic, terrifying and awe-inspiring that first contact can be with these tribes. Often, there is much hand-waving by the westerners, to show they are friendly and not out to harm them. But there is no handshaking.
Perhaps the handshake, much like the advent of farming, came along with the dawn of civilization and has slowly evolved into the strangely casual but important social custom it is today.
Whatever the case, the handshake most certainly isn”t going to go away, I think we can all agree on that.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14. Twitter @KevinNHume.
