There is a time in life (I don’t know when it happens) when young people start giving you the formal handshake, no matter what, because they think you’re old. Older folks who give young people modern handshakes are oftentimes given the honored OG title: “Original Gangsa” and/or “Old Guy” status. OG’s who give nerdy kid’s hip handshakes, when a formal one is expected, are forced to assume the kid’s diminished status themselves. OG’s that give older square friends modern handshakes and fist bumps are said to have “issues.”
I am happy that we live in a time when people literally reach out and touch each other in giving respect. I credit Latino culture in showing other cultures the value and sophisticated humanity of giving everyone the respect they deserve by greeting each person in a familial manner.
But the handshake has become a subversive act.
Men and women have been banned from shaking hands in a district of Somalia controlled by the Islamist group al-Shabab.
Under the ban imposed in the southern town of Jowhar, men and women who are not related are also barred from walking together or chatting in public.
It is the first time such social restrictions have been introduced.
The al-Shabab administration said those who disobeyed the new rules would be punished according to Sharia law.
The BBC's Mohamed Moalimuu in Mogadishu says the penalty would probably be a public flogging.
The militant group has already banned music in areas that it controls, which include most of central and southern Somalia.
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