When you meet your near and dear ones, do you shake hands with them?

Hi Buchi! I think that we should give a smile, nod or say Hello to our relatives and friends when we meet them in person. I also wish them and would always smile and if the situation demands I do not hesitate to shake hands and I shake hands with ‘emotions’ and a firm grip (I have seen some people very lazily and loosely shaking hand, as they just want to complete the mere formality of shaking hands). The next best thing is ‘hugging’, if a person is very closed to me, I hug him/her to convey my feelings/greetings to him/her.

Well it depends in which country you are from or you live in and the nationality of the people you're giving the greeting. In my country, I kiss the cheeks of my immediate family members and embrace them if we haven't met for a while or for a long time. I kiss the hands of the elders like grandparents, granduncles and grandaunts. Kissing the hand also depends on which part of my country you're from. since i'm staying in thailand, i greet fellow foreigners with shake hands or i just wave my hand. but most importantly, i never forget to put my hands together and slightly bow my head to thai co-teachers/superiors/older parents. or just smile and slightly bow at them when my hands are full. i still hug, kiss or both to my closest friends here and give a handshake or say hello to acquaintances. it's very polite to greet people in their own way but we need to learn about the rules to avoid being in trouble. A SMILE is a classic greeting no matter which country you're from or the person you're meeting. enjoy meeting people!

Hi Buchi, this usually depends on what people I meet. When seeing my sister and my nephew we will smile and say hi to each other, and then followed by a big hug for sure. We would do this too if meeting in the public. Yeah, this did happen few months back, when I met them somewhere near to the cinema one night. But I never hugged my brother in law I just smiled at him happily. My family and I never expected that we would meet there. Yeah, it's a wonderful coincident that we watched the same picture in the same theater. I would like to this when meeting my very good friends as well. I would like to say hello and shake hand with those people whom I'm not so familiar with, like relatives from my husband's side or friends' side to show my courtesy. When meeting a familiar friend I will say hi and patting on his or her shoulder continually while chatting with him or her I will say hello or how do you do in my language or dialect to most of the elders to show my respect to them. Happy posting

I never meet them while shaking hands instead just say a hi to them especially to friends while if meeting any family memeber even that hi is gone. we meet with their names. While if professional, then i say hello, here the hi changes into hello, still no hand shakes.

Hi Aunty, If i meet my close friends and dear ones i usually dont shake hands i just smile at them first. If i meet any people on official purpose then only i shake hands, and i heard its more professional to shake hands when you meet people on official or business. Have a great day

Yes, i do! we even hug, if we are very close friends. That is something like tradition here in my country!

I shake hands with people I don't know that well, but when I meet my close friends and family members, I hug and kiss them.

I touch them on their shoulders with a big smile and shake hands too.