We all know about “social distancing”, a term most of us had never heard of until about 3 weeks ago. Now we hear it every day, and are even reminded of it when we go to the store, there’s “X’s” taped on the floor to re-enforce us to keep an appropriate distance in the checkout line. We’re encouraged to stay at least 6 feet away from people we are interacting with. Given these guidelines and the fact that this virus pandemic is probably going to be affecting our lives for awhile, now would be the perfect time to figuratively and literally, distance yourself from the “close talker” in your life.
You know the person I’m talking about, the one who stands just a little bit too close when talking to you. The person who invades your personal space to make a point, the person who doesn’t understand that most people have a “force field” around them that’s about an arms length in distance.
But now is the perfect time to shed that annoying person in your life. They call you to have coffee, nope sorry, have to follow social distancing guidelines. They see you out somewhere, you can literally put your arm out to prevent them from invading you space and simply say,
“oh sorry, coronavirus”
I think a lot of people are going to be able to shed the “close talker” in their life because of this coronavirus. But consider this, if you don’t know who the “close talker” in your life is, then you just might be the “close talker” in somebody else’s life. There’s this idea we were taught in business school, when you enter a room, look around and identify who the “rube” is, who the “sucker” is, and if you can’t identify who that person is, then it just might be you. So don’t be the close talker in someone else’s life.
What we’re also losing is the “handshake.” This virus is easily transmitted so we’re encouraged not to shake hands, and instead to do a “fist bump” instead. I myself like a good handshake. You can gauge a persons interest in you and their general enthusiasm about life by their handshake. I soft, half-hearted handshake with no motion shows a lack of interest. A person who barely grips your hand and also won’t look you in the eye while doing it is not to be trusted.
Accordingly, a person who grips your hand, gives it a good shake and enthusiastically pumps your hand once, or twice conveys a certain positive feeling, and a certain positive energy generally comes from such a person. Also a person who has a sweaty hand or a cold hand certainly gives off a negative vibe.
Think about the holiday movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”…George Bailey was all set to go work for old man Potter. He was going to be his business manager and receive a substantial raise for doing so. He could finally buy Mary the things he always promised her. He could get himself out of debt and perhaps even do some traveling like he always wanted. But when he shook old man Potters hand he realized, as if suddenly being able to peer into the old mans long dead soul, that he couldn’t possibly ever work for Potter. He couldn’t possibly turn his back on all he had built and all the town people he had helped through his little savings and loan bank. If he went to work for Potter, in a short time the whole town would be turned into “Pottersville,” a corrupt little town where only the powerful and connected were successful.
Yes, George was able to determine all that in a handshake….I hope we don’t lose that human connection of handshakes and hugs and yes even close talkers, as annoying as they might be…
Stay safe and as always Peace
John's Blog 