Still, Ritsema thinks that shaking hands will return. “Certainly when the one and a half meter rule has been abolished. But three kisses? No, that disappears.” According to the etiquette expert, this act has been losing popularity for a few years. “People have had enough of it for a long time. It’s too cumbersome, takes too long and we have to kiss too many people.”
Intimacy only
In the past, the three kisses were reserved for intimates, but somewhere between 2000 and 2005 it became a general greeting. “You have to go through the whole living room right away and everyone has had enough of that now.” Due to the pandemic, the greeting was banned and according to Ritsema, that is a wonderful reason to stop it once and for all.
But how are we going to greet each other? Besides shaking hands, Ritsema predicts one kiss on the cheek. “And that one kiss is only reserved for family and close friends.” Your colleagues no longer have to count on a big fat pack. “A colleague is different from someone from your intimate, social circle. At the office, those three kisses will definitely come out.”
Read also
Post-lockdown anxiety? This is how you say no to all the crowds and appointments
To communicate
But you will just see that one colleague from the second floor still wants to go for the three kisses. An awkward ‘Oh, are we going to kiss again?’ or “Huh, only one?” According to Ritsema, you simply prevent it by communicating.
Before the other person can strike, you make it clear that you don’t want three kisses. “As soon as a greeting is coming up, you just have to say it: Hello, how are you? I’ll give you one kiss.” Or a hand of course, but just what you want.
–
