Terilhami, basa alusnya sih: nyontek, aka semi plagiat, atas blog yang ditulis oleh kawan kita, Arie di sini, saya jadi ingat trend baru di kalangan bisnis jasa seperti bank, hotel, supermarket. Oleh anjuran konsultannya, sekarang mereka membuat standar menyambut kita dengan salam 'standar': senyum, ucapan salam, dan menangkupkan kedua tangan di depan dada sebagai ganti berjabatan tangan - kayaknya terilhami oleh cara salam Thai (gambar samping, diambil dari sini).Saya pikir ini bagus sekali.
Pernahkah anda merasa kikuk ketika mesti berjabat tangan dengan teman kantor, atau tamu, atau sesiapa saja yang secara etiket mesti berjabat tangan, pas ketika dia atau anda sedang menderita flu berat?
Anda tahu toh bahwa tangan merupakan sumber penyebaran bakteri atau virus. Ketika anda flu, mestilah tanpa anda sadari, secara refleks anda akan menutup hidung anda kalau bersin. Sesudahnya, walau anda memakai saputangan atau tisu untuk menutupi hidung anda, tangan anda yang sudah terkontaminasi bakteri atau virus yang lembut tidak kasat mata itu terlupakan untuk dicuci lagi, langsung berjabat tangan.
Selain saat flu, tangan juga banyak digunakan untuk hal-hal yang 'jorok' (istilah dari Arie), misalnya: kaum lelaki memegang penis ketika download di toilet, atau orang (laki-perempuan) mesti pegang uang, garuk kepala, korek kuping, korek hidung (ngupil), bahkan main keyboard kompi, dan lain-lain. Itu semua sumber bakteri dan virus yang potensial sekali!
Menurut statistik, banyak orang dewasa yang tidak terbiasa cuci tangan, persentase-nya lebih banyak pria (77%) dibanding wanita (93%) yang tidak terbiasa cuci tangan, dan banyak lagi yang tidak tahu caranya yang baik dan benar. Sampai-sampai ada yang membuat poster untuk memberitahu cara cuci tangan yang baik dan benar itu (seperti gambar yang saya pajang di sini), ditempel di toilet umum - tapi, tetap saja orang tidak terbiasa juga, jeh!Bahkan wikipedia merasa perlu dan penting bikin cerita ttg 'cuci tangan' ini di sini.
Nah, selain membiasakan diri untuk selalu cuci tangan sebelum makan, satu hal yang mungkin baik dilakukan untuk mencegah penyebaran bakteri dan virus, adalah dengan tidak membiasakan berjabat tangan, juga cipiki-cipika - cium pipi kiri, cium pipi kanan -- ini sesuatu yang buat saya sih selalu bikin jengah, bukan budaya kita sendiri juga toh?
Gantinya adalah salam dengan menangkupkan kedua tangan anda di depan dada - mungkin juga bukan budaya kita, seperti halnya berjabat tangan itu, mirip budaya Tionghua yang bersalam dengan menjura - membuat kepalan tangan dengan tangan kanan yang di'bungkus' dengan tangan kiri, siku dilipat, kepalan tangan berada di depan dada, sambil kepala mengangguk dan senyum. Kalau mau tahu lebih banyak, sila klik ini.
Kalau sudah biasa, cara bersalam ini akan jadi etiket sopan-santun juga, dan yang penting: lebih sehat toh? Juga, untuk menghindari hil-hil yang mustahal, misalnya, ada yang geer merasa disentuh tangannya, lalu tergetar dan tersentuh bagian pekanya, terbit rasa sensualnya, lantas dianggap sebagai 'pelecehan', jeh!
Setujukah?
PS-1: Gambar-gambar diambil dari sini.
PS-2: saya kutipkan tata cara bersalam dari wiki di sini:
Greetings
Many different gestures are used throughout the world as simple greetings. In Western cultures, the handshake is very common, though it has numerous subtle variations of grip strength, amount of "pumping" involved, and use of the left hand.
The Arabic term salaam, literally "peace" from the spoken greeting that accompanies the gesture, refers to a low bow performed while placing the right palm on the heart, prior and after a handshake.
In many East Asian cultures, a simple bow from the waist (rei in Japanese, panbae in Korean) is used, with many regional variations seen. Korean men leave their hands straight down at their sides, while Korean women usually place their hands in their lap while bowing.[citation needed]
A Chinese martial arts greeting features the right hand in a fist with the left hand open covering it with a slight nod of the head. (Catatan: Tidak hanya dilakukan oleh para 'pendekar' aka martial arts saja!)
In India, it is common to see the greeting ("Namaste" or "Sat Sri Akal" for Sikhs) where the two hands (palms) are pressed together and held near the heart with the head gently bowed.
In Indonesia, a nation with a huge variety of cultures and religions, many greetings are expressed, from the highly formalised of the highly stratified and hierarchical Javanese to the more egalitarian and practical of outer islands. Javanese, Batak and other ethnicities actively or formerly involved in the military will salute a Government employed superior, followed by a deep from the waist or short bow of the head and a passing, loose handshake. Hand position is highly important, the superior's hand must be higher than the inferior's.
Muslim men will clasp both hands, prayer-like and palm together at the chest and utter the correct Islamic slametan (greeting) phrase, which may be followed by cheek to cheek contact, quick hug or the loose handshake.
Pious Muslim women rotate their hands from a vertical to perpendicular prayer-like position tin order to barely touch the finger tips of the male greeter and may opt out of the cheek-to-cheek contact.
If the male is an Abdi Dalem royal servant, courtier or particularly "peko-peko" (taken directly from Japanese to mean obsequious) or even a highly formal individual, he will retreat face head downcast, never show his side or back to his superior, and retreat backwards in the following posture: left-arm crossed against the chest, right-arm hanging and walking stooped. The underlying concept is that their head height may never be equal to that of their superior.
Much younger Muslim males and females will clasp their elders' or superior outs retched hand to the forehead as a sign of respect and obeisance.
If a manual labourer or person with obviously dirty hands salutes or greets and elder or superior- they will deliberately show deference for their superior's comfort and avoid contact by bowing, touching the right forehead in a very quick salute or a distant "slamet", prayer-hands gesture.
Traditionally, Javanese Sungkem: clasp both hands palm together, thumb aligned with nose, head face turned downwards and bow deeply, bending from the knees. In a royal presence, the one performing sungkem would kneel at the base of the throne.
A gesture called a wai is used in Thailand, where the hands are placed together palm to palm, approximately at nose level, while bowing. The wai is similar in form to the gesture referred to by the Japanese term gassho by Buddhists. In Thailand, the men and women would usually press two palms together and bow a little while saying "Sawadee ka" (female speaker) or "Sawadee krap" (male speaker).
Some cultures use hugs and kisses (regardless of the sex of the greeters), but those gestures show an existing degree of intimacy and are not used between total strangers. All of these gestures are being supplemented or completely displaced by the handshake in areas with large amounts of business contact with the West.[citation needed]
These bows indicate respect and acknowledgment of social rank, but do not necessarily imply obeisance.
Many secret societies develop gestures to signal fellow members. In 1830s Missouri, some Mormons formed a militia organization called the Sons of Dan, more commonly known as the Danite band, which developed a salute "whereby ye may know each other anywhere, either by day or night, and if a brother be in distress. It is thus: to clap the right hand to the thigh, and then raise it quick to the right temple, the thumb extending behind the ear."
