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Monday, October 2, 2017

Interaction with Greetings 


Observation:

Conference in Ann Arbor for patients with Sarcoidosis. The interaction I saw were those of hugging, handshakes, and passing out of business cards. Some of the patients knew each other through Facebook and that prompted a hug as a way of saying finally we meet. 

  • Brisk handshakes - during introductions and passing out of business cards
  • Hugs - friendly greetings
  • Pat on the backs (letting someone know they are there) a way of not interrupting the conversation
  • Rubbing of the back (letting someone know they are there) a way of not interrupting the conversation

One interesting thing happened is when I gave my business card to someone looking to be in a support group. She acknowledge the card and said thank you. As I was turning away I noticed another women approaching the person I had just gave my card to. She took my card from the individual and wrote her information on the of it, but before she did that she asked me for an ink pen.

After reading the section in the book about business cards used in introductions I thought how rude and inappropriate the woman was who wrote her information on the back of my card. The Japanese have a tradition of presenting the business card to the individual with the lettering face up. As they are doing that they are also bowing to the individual. It was also stated that it is rude to put the card in your pocket, write on it, or any other defaming as this is a way of attacking the individual identity (Axtell, p. 109). I felt like my identity was attacked when another person wrote their information on the back of my card. 

America is a melting pot of cultures, we take a bit of every culture and make it our own. I think that people should pay more attention to their actions and gestures when interacting with another person. We never know who we will offend. 


Reference
Axtell, R.E, Initiating Interaction: Greetings and Beckonings across the World, Chapter 12. The Nonverbal Communication Reader, 3rd ed., pgs. 109-118, Waveland Press, Inc., Long Grove, Illinois. 


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