Soft-Handed Men

In Time’s past, when you shook hands with a man, you seldom encountered a soft, pliable hand.

Now, soft-handed men seem to be predominate.

So, what’s the big deal about that you may ask.   

Hmmm, well, as my hands have begun to soften because of my lack of manuel labor, I started noticing that I was encountering more and more American men who sported very few calluses on their hands.  Some say that the calluses have moved from their hands to their backsides.

I well remember the preacher man when I was growing up.  He believed it was important to press the flesh.  He would baptize folks on a Sunday evening and some how manage to be there to greet everyone as they walked out the door.  He was a quick change artist.  He believed in giving everyone a warm ‘goodbye’ with a strong handshake as we left.

He also made sure he gave your hand a good going over.  My mother often commented that she felt like her hand had been wrung out like a wet dish rag when he finished shaking hands with her. My dad never complained.  He thought that it spoke well of the preacher man if he could crush your fingers together.

Now I also understand that we no longer live in time’s past.  Well, I do slip back there occasionally.

I know, we must live in Time’s present.  But that does not keep me from wincing a bit when I shake a man’s hand and think I’m shaking the hand of a woman. You understand, I like shaking women’s hands but only when they are attached to the female person.  

Also, as time has slipped by I have noticed that a man’s word apparently holds little significance.  There are more and more men who can look you in the eye, give you their word and promptly renege on that word.  A man’s word - once described as ‘his bond’ - no longer seems to mean much.  Now, you can even sign a contract with 37 lawyers signing off on it, and it still means very little.  

So, is there a correlation?  Could be. Could be.

The cure: dig more post holes - by hand.  One of my greetings to men is ‘you are a gentlemen and a scholar and not too bad a post hole digger.’   It means that you are a well rounded man who can be trusted.