Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Rudeness

A while back, I had a discussion with the Fish Lady about whether or not offering your hand in greeting to the ladyfolk was rude. She maintained that it was, whereas I insisted that it wasn't.

She's probably forgotten all about it by now. But not me. Oh, no. I was just biding my time until I had a free blog slot to fill. And also, I only just remembered it myself!

Take a look at these two pictures, one of which is rude:



Which one do you think is the rude one?

Is it the horrible beardy git extending his middle finger in a gesture that pretty much means 'stick this digit into your bum hole'?

Or is it the handsome chap extending his hand in a traditional gesture of greeting and friendship?

Now, I'll admit that up to and including Victorian times, it was traditional for a gentleman to wait for a lady to offer her hand.

But there are a few things that need to be taken into account.

Firstly, it's not Victorian times. I know this because I don't dress like this:



Since Victorian times, ladies have become much less soppy. Hardly any of them do embroidery any more and some of them even vote! More importantly, they have campaigned for and won equal rights. Which means they should be treated the same as men.

Of course the other problem with Victorian times was that, once the lady's hand was proffered, a gentlemen didn't shake it. Oh, no. More often than not, this happened instead:



No-one wants that now, do they?

Oh yeah... And while we're at it, a reminder:



They're BOTH rude! Because they mean THE SAME THING!

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