This 100% times a billion. You touched on everything I would have said in response to this.

I feel awkward if I meet someone new and they dont go for the handshake, like they are a cold person or something. I think its rude.

Plus everything Androangel said.

I am not opposed to touch. I love to hug my family.

I am not scared of germs. I kiss my dog on the snoot.

However, I KNOW how many colds, flu and other pathogens are passes specifically by hands (look up some info on the amount of feces and urine found in the average bar counter plate of peanuts, if you want to be totally grossed out).

I do NOT need or want to shake the hand of the dude who just pee'd and wiped his rear and didn't wash his hands...as happens all day long.

Sorry...NOTHING is "happy and healthy" nor creating a stronger human bond between us, in doing so.

I understand the humanistic vision of what you are saying, but a handshake was never about that anyway. It was, actually, a way to check for weapons!

As for antibodies....I am not sure shaking hands helps all that much, but again, you make a valid point.

It may not have started as a way to bond, but it has evolved into that. Touching things and other people tends to be a way to make them "real" in the minds of many people.

As for preventing the spread of pathogens, like I said, unless you're also going to avoid touching everything while you're out in public, there's no point avoiding a handshake.

100% agree.

And really, even if you shake someone's hand that is full of germs, they can't hurt you unless they enter your body - so if you avoid touching your eyes, mouth or nose, you'll be fine. Wash your hands and move on.

The US culture is already cold enough (compared to the cultures I am around on a daily basis). I think we need to keep the handshake. It's a sign of courtesy and respect and we need more of those, not less.

Agree on your clean your hands after part.

I also believe we should keep handshakes as a part of our culture, and a FIRM handshake at that.

Bowing is more of a cultural thing, if I'm talking to Japanese or Korean people, I naturally do a lot of small bows.

that's exactly how I feel. If I had it my way, I would be hugging and kissing everyone I came in contact with. But unfortunately, since that's frowned upon in American culture, I revert to the handshake. And yes, I'm one of those types of people that pretty much demand your hand when we first meet.

I don't like how cold and distant our culture is, and eliminating our sense of touch to only a few people will only distance us more.

And I agree with the germs part; if you're that worried about them, wash your hands after you touch them. You won't be exposed to anything if you're taking proper care of yourself.

Me too.

It seems odd that one would want to disband handshakes because of the germs they spread, but say they aren't a germaphobe. You may do other things that a germaphobe wouldn't do, but in my eyes, trying to do away with something because it could spread germs is germaphobic behavior. I do think that our culture is getting extremely distant and disconnected as it is with the internet, cell phones, and all the other technologies that all but eliminate human contact. We are social creatures. We need interaction with other people. A handshake isn't going to kill you unless you shake hands with somebody who has something deadly and then start rubbing your eyes or licking your fingers. If you wash your hands or use a hand sanitizer after shaking someone's hands, you'll be fine. If you take away all potential germ transfers, nobody's body learns to fight the germs off, and when, not if, they get reintroduced to the society it would be nothing but bad because people would be down for weeks or months over a common cold instead of days.