The viral fist jab
By Brad on Jul 28, 2008 in America, Can't Help But Laugh, Crazy Stuff | comments(0)
James Poulos decries the spread of this “moronic” gesture…
Who invented this moronic gesture? Yipster huppies who watched The Office and Boiler Room one too many times? People who hate handshakes? And the waves of brine-like human shrimp who let themselves drift in a red tide of hapless conformity…. Grotesque.
… We are killing the handshake, one of the immortal outward expressions of American genius of all times, for no better reason than boredom. The fist bump is a farcical and inappropriate way of sealing deals and a borderline insult as a personal greeting. There is no way to judge a man’s character by his fist bump. Phonies and fakers receive even greater a pass than the used car salesmen of yesteryear, who at least had to develop strong wrist muscles and suppress the DTs.
Amid the madness of an Obama presidency, the worst thing to come would be the nationalization of fist-bumping under a giddy, mandatory rubric — not of Hope and Healing but of a white-bread ’sense of entitlement’ to some fifth-rate parody of being Down.
I must admit I find myself perplexed by the pervasiveness of this gesture, even in the professional work environment. It seems a rather awkward gesture, one that people don’t quite know how to do effectively — myself included.
I disagree with author about Barack Obama’s culpability for the viral nature of this lunacy. Obama is not in any way the original inspiration of said gesture, and certainly cannot be the cause of very conservative Republicans using said gesture, so any blame placed upon him for this disturbing trend is completely misguided and inappropriate.
Regardless, I’ll be glad when it goes away.
