Is It Farewell to the Handshake?

At least in my social circle, the handshake was pretty much extinct long before covid.

I would love to see the classic "up, down, false shake, pull back, exploding fist" become the standard used by world leaders and diplomats.

(If there's a name for this I don't know it, but hopefully it's recognizable enough to at least US readers.)

While the "I'm not hiding a knife" theory turns out to probably be wrong, I think I'm going to Betteridge this headline, and say No. The handshake is going to come back in full force in about a year, and partly due to that apocryphal reason. ("There's no more contagion, here, let's demonstrate...")

People actually like shaking hands. It's a quick ritual that's easily begins many interactions. When the pandemic has ceased, people are going to go full force in all sorts of activities that they were denied, even if they didn't participate all that much prior to 2020.

I saw maybe 2 movies a year prior to last year. I can totally see making it a monthly thing once theaters open back up. Dining out, gym attendance, in-person business meetings. I think these things are going to surge more than people realize (though not always above the pre-2020 levels.)

One thing we all discovered during the pandemic is how many jobs actually can be done from home. Many of us already knew it, but it took the virus to convince a lot of management as well (unless you're Spectrum/Charter). But I think another thing we discovered is that working from home is not all roses and sunshine. A lot of people sorely miss the office environment and interactions that took place there. They're going to jump at the opportunities to return to the office.

So back to the handshake. It's going to come back. People will use it as a reminder that Things Are Normal now. Hand sanitizer use will be more widespread, though. And I think face masks for those with a cold—at least in "blue states".

Not the OP, maybe related to this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_the_Exploding_Fist

A very famous computer game back in the all those Kung-Fu movies heyday.

I sure hope so. Maybe in less hygiene aware countries like the US, but I think countries that took the pandemic seriously will not bring it back as much.