STARTING 4/8/17: Six Word Saturday is now being hosted by the lovely Debbie at Travel With Intent.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Bad Handshake

I'm going to start sharing some stories from our recent trip to Texas. I met a million of Joe's cousins and their kids plus a friend of mine in Houston, then we met another friend in Austin and just did some random wandering around. By the time I run out of Texas stories, I should be back from a trip to see our families in NY/PA and hopefully I'll have tales to tell from that trip. If we're lucky, these stories will not involve breaking any babies.

They say you can tell a lot about a person by their handshake. I've always been very proud of mine - I think it's firm and shows that I am not some weak little girl. After spending years working in IT and in government, I liked to think that my handshake at least gave me a fighting chance of establishing myself as someone who would not be walked all over.

Then, in Texas, I met a bunch of Joe's cousins. It was a bit overwhelming for little old me with the whole travel anxiety and stranger anxiety and crowd anxiety and my deeply held belief that "family" is the ultimate F-word. Still, I kicked ass and did you all proud. There was no vomiting, no shaking, no sticking my foot too far into my mouth.

Upon introductions, some of the family hugged. Some shook hands. Some knocked over wine glasses with their tales (ok, that might've been the dog). But I hugged and shook and tipped back glasses of wine with the best of them.

Except the ONE cousin. It was like the worst handshake ever. Somehow my thumb ended up inside the handshake with all my other fingers and it was just weird. Not her fault. Not mine. Just a missed handshake. A week later, it's still on my mind. My handshake is awesome, I swear! But now, I'm "strange handshake girl".

Or, maybe I'm just "paranoid girl" or "over-thinking girl" and she didn't even notice. Yeah, entirely possible. But you can be sure that if our paths cross again? She is getting the best handshake EVER!

7 comments:

1 Funky Woman said...

I'm sure you are a little bit of both, lol! I'll bet she didn't even think about it! I personally hate shaking hands, yes its a germ thing. But I think its weird to shake women's hands!

And don't get me started with the shaking hands in church, its just not going to happen!

Yup, I'm weird too!

Megan

C. Beth said...

Okay, you could be "paranoid girl."

But yeah, I'd probably also be wishing for another opportunity to redo the handshake.

Thankfully, while a handshake may be someone's first impression of us, we usually have lots of opportunities to confirm or change that impression. I bet she thought you were great. :)

Whitney said...

When J and I were first dating, he invited me to attend his family's Thanksgiving family reunion. We had been dating less than a month and so I had only met his parents. It was so nerve-racking and half the people I met and shook hands with, I haven't seen since.

So, maybe you won't see her again. LOL. On the other hand {snicker}, I'm sure she didn't think twice about it. :)

The Brown Recluse (TBR) said...

LOL...at my desk! "Weird handshake girl!"

Toni said...

That would totally be me. I would be thinking about it the rest of the trip because I am paranoid-girl and I am Definitely Overthinking girl!

Mercy said...

Heeheehee too funny! I dont think they are thinking about it as much as you are, but it makes for a good story <3

Toriz said...

I doubt she'll remember. But, better luck next time! *Smiles reasuringly*