I stumbled upon this article when I was doing my morning news reading on the net. It got my attention because the headline aroused my curiosity. Although it is about the recent scenario in the UK, in reality it is quite universal too.
Take this country for example, in the old days...the act of kissing on the cheek might be seen as 'too much' or 'too open'. One was not encouraged to display emotions in public much less to kiss one's cheek. Everything 'too physical' is not supposed to be shown to all. All what you can do is to shake hands and kiss your elder's hands as a form of respect.
But coming of the new age and generations, things have changed very fast. In some places I go, people will still shake hands but the pat on the cheek with another person's cheek is becoming a fast norm here. It is great if it is practised among family members and close friends. (But thank God it has not gone to the extent of lip or french kissing...gulp!) But, if that happens to strangers or people you hardly know, it might be very disturbing to brush cheeks and lips with them! This is what Sam Delaney is lamanting about in his article below. Happy reading!
French Kissing in UK by Sam Delaney (excerpt from The First Post)
Oh God. She's leaning in for the second kiss but I've already backed away. Now I'm going to have to move back to kiss the other cheek at an awkward angle and... Yep, there it is, I've headbutted her. Brilliant.
Why does it always have to end this way when I kiss an acquaintance on the cheek? When I was about seventeen I got inappropriately drunk at a fancy, grown-up party. The only other person close to my age there was a pretty Chinese girl.
When I stumbled up to her to say goodbye she leant in to give me a kiss on the cheek. I wasn't familiar with the informal kiss on the cheek back then so, in my drunken mind, I thought, 'Great, she wants to get off with me.'
My stupid tongue flopped out of my inebriated mouth too early, she backed away and I wound up licking thin air like some sort of demented Labrador. Everyone at the party was looking at me, so I left my tongue hanging out for a bit longer.
I look at this friend who I’ve just stuck the nut on. She’s putting a brave face on it, bless her You know, a bit like when you trip up on the pavement and then continue to trip all the way along the street as if you’re doing it on purpose? At least I had an excuse back then. But this is 2008: everyone kisses everyone these days!
I look at this friend who I've just stuck the nut on. She's putting a brave face on it, bless her, but her right eye's going to be a shiner by tomorrow morning. I feel ridiculous.
There's only one way out of this: I start to rock my head violently back and forth and hope she assumes I'm having a stroke.
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