My cousin got engaged last week. It was a chance to meet people I haven't met for the past twenty years. An old family friend shook my hand, said hello to my sister and then enquired about me. "Why don't you ask him yourself?" When he recognized me, he shook my hand again. And then held on to it for a few minutes. Let me tell you how awkward it gets when someone shakes your hand and doesn't let go for the duration of a five-minute conversation. Very awkward.
The same scenario repeated with another old friend. This time, the enquiring gentleman was not only pleasantly surprised enough to shake my hand, he held my upper arm. To my horror, he then engaged my pinkie finger in the dreaded pinkie finger lock (that's when someone curls their pinkie finger around one of yours.) I've only ever seen this strange phenomenon among undiscerning men walking on local streets or heard about comedians making a joke out of it.
I tried hard to release the lock, but my adversary was deft and skilled. To him, it was a connection he wasn't eager to release.
Such customary oddities are now so rare, that such occurrences leave one wondering how to act. Social situations require diplomacy and tact. I've come to the conclusion that diplomacy and tact are the first things out the window when one's personal space is invaded by the dreaded pinkie finger lock!
