THE HANDSHAKE TRUE!

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16539, 24 September 1921, Page 16

THE HANDSHAKE TRUE!

YOU CAN TELL A GOOD MAN BY HiS “ GRIP.” (“ Pearson's Weekly.”) You can learn more from the handshakes of 3 r our friends and those of strangers than }*ou can from their faces. Th© dead-and-alive person who seems to have no interest in anything gives you his hand listlessly, as much as to say, 44 There it is; you can do as you like with itl” His hand rests in yours, cold as a fish. You feel like returning his bond to him very carefully, lest you should let it drop and break it. Make no mistakes about him. He is neither dead nor sleeping, but very much alive. His big interest is himself; but he keeps the doors of his mind shut upon his fellows. Similar is the man who gives you the tips of hi 9 fingers. Give such a man the tips of yours^ —but don’t give him your confidence. Ho is probably very silky, but he is certainly very “ slim.” There is the made-to-order man. His band stocks out stiffly like a scarecrow’s, and liis fingers vaguely touch yours. His shake is a formal, meaningless act. He is a croaturo of pretension ; he slavishly copies the dress of men better off than himself. He has no personality, and his ideal is to be considered the “correct” thing in dress and manners. DON’T HANG ON. Don’t trust the man who, when you are introduced to him, holds your hand affectionately, reluctant to let it go. In five minutes, if you are not careful, he will become your best friend. But if you meet him a fortnight hence you will have to be introduced to him again —for he will have forgotten you. Another who holds your hand as if you had given it to him for “ keeps ” is the ladies’ man. Shun him, for his mind is small, and ho is the detestable type

of male who delights in talking scandal ■ about girls. The man who puts his hand into your» with a loud smack is drunk when he is sober. In other words, he acts first and thinks afterwards- Impetuous, rash, he sees life with the eyes of a horse—magnifying little thingsj but he wears no mental blinkers. It is tools of this type who make peaceful meetings and processions into riots by 1 nipping in ” or breaking windows. The man who shakes hands Using hit» palm and fingers but keeping his thumb well up is thrifty. That, of course, is his own affair. But as this means that while he is with you, you must pay part, of his cost of living, it isn’t wise to see very much of him. SQUEEZING IT TOO HARD. He whose fingers 44 burn ” you with their pressure is a man of superabundant vitality. He doesn’t mean to hurt; you merely come in the way of his surplus energy— suffer. He is dependable. But he is not keen on making chance friendships. Moreover, his constant society would be a strain upon . your nerves unless you, too, were a dynamic man. The man who gives you a fairly warm pressure, and almost at once draws his , hand away, is sincere- But he is shy ! and reserved, and ho will not waste his sweetness. Cultivate him. The best handshake is the warm grip which has no insinuating squeeze in it and doesn’t last too long. He gives Ids whole hand, and his thumb closes for a moment outside vour hand. There is no mystery .about him. He j has nothing to show and nothing to | hide. He is just an ordinary good fel- | low like yourself. Ho understands the j importance of the “trifles” that make ud your daily round. His shake is an expression of unaffected friendliness.