There will be smaller changes in our
society as well, and some old traditions may be completely erased.
Consider the handshake, for instance. During this pandemic,
handshaking is strongly discouraged, as the COVID-19 virus is easily
spread through contact. We each touch our face hundreds of times a
day, so passing germs through a handshake can be blamed for some
percentage of COVID-19 infections. I've always been a bit of a
germophobe and disliked shaking hands, but now I'm convinced that
I'll never shake anyone's hand again, even in a post-COVID world.
Perhaps we should all adopt the Asian custom of bowing in greeting?
It's ironic that the origins of the handshake are believed to have
originated with an intention to display that a person is empty-handed
without weapons (and the subsequent shaking intended to shake any
possible hidden blades from a person's sleeves.) The irony of passing
a deadly infection through a handshake has essentially weaponized the
handshake. I don't think this custom is going to last in our
society's future—it may have already died completely in the last
few weeks!
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