James Joyce is one of the literary lions of the 20th century. His great works: "Ulysses", "Finnegan's Wake", and others...have spawned legions of admirers. One day, while walking the streets of Zurich, a young fan rushed up to Joyce and said, "May I kiss the hand that wrote Ulysses?" Joyce replied, "No. It did lots of other things too."
In the sales world, the handshake is expected as the ritual greeting. It is hard to imagine how a salesperson, in a case of fastidious hygiene, would refuse to shake someone's extended hand. Such a refusal would be regarded as an outright insult.
Even still, some people in the business world consider the handshaking practice to be abhorrent. Donald Trump has said, "I think the handshake is barbaric...Shaking hands, you catch the flu, you catch this, you catch all sorts of things."
The Donald should be grateful that he is not developing more Trump Towers in Papua New Guinea. The men of some highland tribes say hello by (genially) clasping each other's genitals.
If one really wanted to make sure that they never suffered another cold, they would avoid all contact with all other people, as well as anything they had ever touched. Respiratory viruses are highly contagious and can survive for hours on skin, furniture, doorknobs, etc. Of course, good hand-washing is the best preventative procedure. Recent studies indicate that there is no difference in effectiveness of alcohol-based gels, antibacterial soaps, and plain soap and water.
Politicians are inveterate hand-shakers. The political handshake has its origins from long ago, when a king's touch was believed to possess magical powers. At the White House on New Year's Day, in 1907, Teddy Roosevelt set the world-record (at the time) for shaking hands. He shook the hand of every aide, usher and policeman in sight...8,150 in total. It is said that afterwards he went upstairs and privately, and vigorously, scrubbed himself clean.
Financial advisors tend to attract and gravitate towards clients who they resemble. It is conceivable that a financial advisor could get away with not shaking the hands of prospects and clients. Of course this would mean that they would garner a client list of hermits, recluses, and Howard Hughes-like germophobes. (Heck...Hughes died in 1976 with a $2 billion+ estate, so maybe this IS a viable business plan.)
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