Monday, October 13, 2008

Social etiquette -what was acceptable had evolved

To think that liquor was so unacceptable before, according to this picture:

I came across this article in a local daily and cannot help wondering how things have changed over time:

Lip-kissing is the new mwah, mwah
By Celia Walden
(excerpts):

On the party scene, air-kissing – that horrible “mwah. mwah” used by the kind of people who know your job title and dress size but forget your name – is out.

Instead, there’s a far worse social plague doing the rounds: being kissed on the mouth, or what I refer to as “anti-social kissing”.

And this is not delivered by your significant other, but by people you barely know: your dentist’s wife, a colleague, a friend of a friend, some floating soul you once got drunk with.

The first assault demanded the most recovery time.
…but the shock, and the sparkling residue of her lip-gloss, lingered for days. Since then I have witnessed, and suffered, anti-social kissing more times than I care to mention.

“It was as if they wanted to demonstrate what close friends we were, and yet even in the fashion world, where shmoozing is rife, this is taking things to a new level,” says top British designer, Afshin Feiz.

Women can use the time-honoured head turn. Men should learn to convert the encounter into an air kiss “by lightly touching the person on both shoulders as they go for the lips – a steerage signal – and turning your cheek,” suggests Judi James (behavioural expert).

Personally, I find it odd when I see orientals imitating the west. It is sometimes unavoidable when in western countries, as sometimes, for not following the customary ‘mwah, mwah’ the lady might feel insulted. I certainly would not like to do it and appear taking advantage of a lady in Malaysia, for instance.

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