The Kissing Evolution

When I was younger, I was taught that I should shake hands with people upon meeting someone for the first time or simply seeing a friend. As I entered my high school years, it became commonplace to hug a girl upon seeing her, but to still shake hands or give high-fives to guys upon seeing them. I think this is pretty standard for the majority of America, especially for those of us who were raised in the suburbs.

Then, when I arrived in Miami, I started seeing this new phenomenon that absolutely blew my mind and made me a little uncomfortable at first: people were exchanging kisses on the cheek as a friendly greeting method. At first, I was pretty hesitant and slow to acclimate. I remember vividly the first time that a girl went in for the kiss-on-the-cheek-hello, I was at a loss and really had no idea how to react. I just kind of stood there, half hugged her, and let her kiss me on the cheek. I think a lot of this influence comes from the Latin vibe down in Miami; it is the cultural norm for many Hispanics.

Then came my study abroad experience in Spain. I still had not completely warmed to the idea of one kiss on the cheek when to my dismay, I saw people everywhere doing two kisses: kiss on one cheek, quickly pull the head back, rotate the neck, kiss on the other cheek. However, I got the double kiss down pretty smoothly. Maybe it was a direct effect of the frequency of drinking alcohol in Spain that made me more comfortable kissing people hello, or maybe it was my willingness to open up to other cultures as someone studying in another country. Regardless, when I got back to Miami, the single kiss was a breeze.

Two kisses is the maximum, right? Nobody in their right mind would do more than two, right? Wrong. Now that I am living in Geneva, the customary greeting is three kisses. It is a little bit time consuming to be honest. This is because the kisses come at the greeting, and then they come again when someone departs. So there are a lot of cheeks being kissed. Nevertheless, the kissing has really grown on me. I find that it is a warmer way to greet friends, family, or friends of friends. Sure, three might be a little over the top, but I am going with the flow.

I am just waiting to find the country where four kisses will be the social norm.