The strangest thing happened last Friday night when my brother and me visited my mother at the hospital. We met the the doctor on duty that night and he provided us with the details on what happened during my mother’s hand surgery. Before that though, a bone crushing scenario unfolded when the doctor introduced himself to us.
The doctor on duty that night was in his twenties and he had short cropped hair. He was of medium build and height. I’m sure I was slightly taller than him but that’s probably my ego talking. The doctor shook hands with my brother first before reaching out his right hand towards me. The moment my hand was in his, I felt a iron vice like grip beginning to tighten and squeeze the life out of me. I was taken aback by the overpowering sensation at first and it quickly came to a point where I was wondering whether that crushing vice like grip would ever ease off.
It lasted a good 3 seconds before the doctor eased off his grip and let go completely. The first thing that crossed in my mind was, “What the heck was this guy trying to do?” I was not aware that I had just been hit by the most feared handshake of them all, the overly aggressive and dominating bone cruncher handshake. I glanced at my brother’s face later on and he winked at me to signal that he felt it too.
When my brother and me had a chat at a coffee shop later that night, we joked about the incident and came up with ridiculous theories on why the doctor did what he did. One theory was that doctor had bionic hands, all thanks to his colleague the hand surgeon. Another crazy theory was that the doctor was feeling too cold that he could not control his own grip. My brother and me also joked that we should have made a remark while we experiencing that bone crushing moment. Well, the doctor probably was looking at our reactions at that moment so that he could tell his friends and have a good laugh about it later on.
Most people still do not understand how a simple handshake could reveal something about themselves. In this case, the young doctor may have showed the qualities that he had in him: dominating, domineering and overly aggressive. In theory, it is not good news for the people working under him. I can honestly say that I have never experienced such a punishing handshake before in my life and so did my brother. It definitely left a negative impression on us and we were not looking forward to this type of handshake ever again.
I believe in a firm and confident handshake but definitely not the bone cruncher. It is simply rude and unwelcoming. You can always ask your friend or family what sort of handshake do you have just to make sure that you do not project negative qualities. For the sake of understanding yourself and how others perceive you, try it once at least. I had a good laugh after I shook hands with my brother.
For a more comprehensive read on the different handshake types, read the article by qasimdharamsy called Be careful of your handshaking.
More articles by Sharif Ishnin:
Beware of The Serial Killer of Hopes and Dreams
A Post Modern Civilized World Teaches Us To Pay Up Or Bleed To Death
Sharif Ishnin is a writer and miniature painter from Singapore.
Nice Share.
I was taught that a persons character and snicerity could be measured by the firmness of the hand shake. It’s odd how these little lessons are brought flooding back by reading others experiences.
The Doctor was clearly a sincere character
Sharif, maybe the doctor was just checking how strong your hands are I was thinking, maybe if the doctor was having a good laugh at your expressions, it would have been hilarious if you over reacted by wincing in pain while you get down on your knees during the handshake. The joke would have been on him
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