Handshakes, Buffets, and Other Casualties of the Battle With COVID-19

And those who won’t stop reaching into the bowl of chips

Photo: WeAre/Shutterstock

My Peace Corps experience in Mali concluded 20 years ago, but some of the more vital cultural practices have stuck with me. One of them, the extensive Malian greeting process, remains deep in my bones. (When I enter a room, I stop myself from approaching each person with enduring eye contact and a hearty handshake, touching my heart after shaking only with the elders, to demonstrate the greatest respect.)

Prior to COVID-19’s visit to every corner of the planet, I’d been working with my grade-school aged daughters to greet people properly. The girls tended to hang back, mumble unintelligible syllables, or gaze at the floor. It drove me mad.

COVID relieved me of the greeting instruction task quickly. Not only do my daughters not have to greet people with a handshake, but they barely have anyone to greet!

All over the world, traditions are changing; cultures are morphing; communities are adapting. I wondered how global customs would change temporarily or irrevocably because of COVID-19. A group of almost 250 expatriates, tourists, travelers, and worldschoolers from all over the world, all members of travel-related Facebook groups, shared their thoughts on the…