Coming into business, most people understand that a hand shake is needed when you first meet someone. I think I have shaken more hands since being at Sauder than I have in my whole life. Comm 299 even has a portion of the class that teaches students how to give an effective handshake “try to see the colour of their eyes and join web to web” – Philippe Desrochers. Everyone tells us how important a strong, firm handshake is but when do we ever see the effects of a hand well shaken?
I saw them today.
After not getting into housing, I must now face the tedious task of looking for apartments to rent. I lined up a ‘handful’ of viewings today and arrived at one of them, shook the guy’s hand as protocol and preceded to look around the place. We got into conversation and he said “So you’re a student here? At Sauder right?” I was taken aback and naturally asked how he knew which faculty I was in. It was then that he blushed, laughed a little and admitted that he figured it out from my handshake. I knew someone could tell a lot about a person by their handshake, but the fact that my handshake automatically told this guy that I was in Sauder really surprised me.
I just got a call from him telling me that the place is mine if I want it. His exact words…”we have had a lot of interest but I figured that anyone who could give a handshake like that would be responsible and look after this place like a good tenant.”
A handshake has far more power than simply preventing an awkward introduction between two people.
