The Spaniard José Ortega y Gasset was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. Of impressive lucidity and acuity, Ortega wrote about practically all human activities. In his collection of essays The man and the people (1957), says about "the greeting" (we quote from memory):"When I arrive at a meeting in someone else's house, the first thing I do is approach each of the people who are there, take their hand, shake it, shake it and then release it. It is a bizarre and mechanical act, almost inhuman.” And he proceeds to describe the reasons why this social convention that expresses respect and education, is really a learned action, copied from others and therefore, unnatural and at the same time, important to start any social relationship that one intends to establish. , of a positive nature. The greeting is the first step, which guarantees that one arrives in peace. Why is it so important?
Greeting – from the Latin “salutăre” – is important because it expresses, as we said at the beginning, that one approaches another person with good intentions, it is like the guarantee that, unless specific situations that occur during the conversation, there will be no conflicts in that meeting. If several adults are talking in a room or in a corner and a child or adolescent appears and greets, it is the maximum demonstration of education and respect that child can offer, and by extension, it becomes a sign of good image for the family. from which it comes. In these times, in which it is so rare to see this reaction in minors, finding those who have this habit has become a luxury.
This custom, transversal to western, eastern and African cultures, is actually thousands of years old and, although its origin has not been traced exactly, it is most likely that it was the civilizations of antiquity (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Chinese) which established this rite as necessary to initiate contact between two people. Among us, the most common forms of greeting are:the handshake, the kiss on the cheek, the hug (when there are higher levels of trust and effusiveness); although sometimes physical contact is not necessary, but a simple phrase like "hello, how are you?" or raise your hand and wave it, if the person you are greeting is far away.
Some classic greetings, which show extreme sophistication and respect:taking off your hat, approaching a woman's hand and discreetly kissing her, leaning your body forward (clearly reminiscent of the culture oriental in this case) or hold the other person's forearms, like a half-hug, a sign of greater affection and trust.
Of course there are also protocol greetings, of collective execution:when the teacher enters the classroom, for example, the students stand up and greet. When the general passes review, the troops raise their right hand and place it firmly at the level of their foreheads. And so, the various human cultures have created a series of varieties according to customs and symbols. But there are even more interesting and bizarre forms of greeting, for our Latin American vision. Here are some:
In countries like Spain and France, two kisses are normal when people know each other, and a simple handshake when they don't, even between men. Between women and men, the tradition of two kisses has always prevailed, although one is usually given in the family. This kiss is characterized because it is a slight touch of the cheeks only.
In Italy they are also two kisses, but starting from the opposite side, and regardless of the sex of the person, as long as they are known, when they are not, the handshake will be imposed hands.
In countries like Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, it is normal to give three kisses, starting from the right. In Russia, the tradition of three kisses is known, and in some regions there are up to six. Another custom is kissing on the mouth, a very old one by the way, as the two leaders of the Soviet Union and East Germany, Brezhnev and Honecker, captured in the famous photograph. For their part, the British are more averse to this type of contact, preferring the traditional handshake greeting.
The Eskimo greeting consists of rubbing the nose. Meanwhile, in Oceania, more specifically in some areas of Polynesia, the way of greeting is very similar to that of the Eskimos. Women never kiss their partners on the mouth, and instead stick their noses together for a few moments.
In Tibet, people greet each other by showing their tongues, as a sign that no malicious word will come out of the mouth of the person executing the greeting.
In China and Japan they don't touch at all. The Japanese greet bowing their heads, and depending on the respect they have, the bow will be greater. In India, when greeting each other, the most normal is to put your hands together at chest height and pronounce the word "Namaste", and if the person is of a higher rank, they bow and touch their feet as a sign of respect. Other Indo-Asian cultures are characterized by an olfactory recognition of the other person.
In the Muslim world the most common is a handshake while saying "salam aleikum", both between men and women. However, between a man and a woman they never touch, unless they are relatives, in which case they shake hands and hug each other, similar to a pat on the back, followed by three kisses in which they only put their faces .
In the north of Malawi (Africa), the Ngá people, men greet each other by shaking the other's sexual organ twice, even three times if they are relatives. Women give each other breast squeezes, in the same amount. When men and women greet each other, the exchange between shakes is similar, and if there are up to four, it means that there is an interest in each other. This unique form of greeting comes from the belief of some tribes that they consider kissing dangerous because in ancient times it was believed that the soul could escape through the mouth.
In short, we can say that saying hello will never go out of style, either as an element of social protocol in certain groups of people or as an individual demonstration of politeness. At one time, people greeted each other on the street, regardless of whether they knew each other or not, with a "good morning-afternoon-night", which gave a feeling of greater urbanity and sense of coexistence. Whoever passes without saying hello, in addition to being socially unacceptable rudeness, in one way or another, tries to go unnoticed and that, without a doubt, arouses suspicion in others.