"Show me your hands and I will tell you what you are like". You can challenge these words by saying that sometimes we have well-groomed hands and sometimes we don't. There are times when we are weeding, cleaning, doing renovations; then our hands don't look the way we would expect them to look to ourselves. We're talking here about people who work in other circumstances on a daily basis: for example, in a design office, an advertising agency or a medical corporation, where hands are exposed and expectations regarding their appearance are high. Is weekend work then a misrepresentation of our business card?
Nothing of the sort! The context will tell us that this is a temporary business card, which can be an interesting topic for discussion. In situations like this, shaking hands as a greeting or explaining that we can't shake hands will suffice with a simple explanation: "Sorry, but I was just working in the garden." After all, it's no shame at a time like this that our hands don't look the same as they did in the office or before the operation.
Lots of non-verbal content flows to the other person at this point:
1) I am professionally not a gardener, 2) I am sorry I can't shake hands, 3) I know the social norms, 4) I care about the other person's wellbeing - I don't shake a dirty hand and explain why I don't.
This is not the end of the messages sent to the recipient. Respect for the other person can still be mentioned, as well as the most obvious message concerning what I have just done/do that is not my everyday profession.
Besides, a cultured person, receiving an unexpected guest, will immediately wash his or her hands thoroughly so that no dirt can be seen under the fingernails. After these activities, our hands are exposed from ordinary everyday life. If one takes care of one's image, one will have nothing to be ashamed of. The episode described is just one version of the situation when an unexpected visitor finds us gardening or cleaning. Another version may be more comfortable for the host: someone rings the doorbell, the host opens and - seeing the visitor - takes off his protective gloves. Without prolonged ablutions after his interrupted work, he can say hello. Here it is necessary to make a digression that it is the guest who should be given access to the bathroom, having first taken the outer garment from them, and only then do we greet them.
Still coming back to the hand as our calling card, it is worth mentioning the type of gloves the host takes off, as they also say a lot.
The "Handy Lab." gloves is a two-in-one: not only protection during household chores, but also care, thanks to the formula inside the gloves. Again, this is an interesting stimulus for conversation and information about the host who likes to do some activities at the same time, saving time.
I, however, in this case, advocate dedicating this grooming time to relaxation, as it is very pleasant once the aforementioned gloves are on.
Unfortunately, the hands can also be a poor calling card that says nothing good about its owner.
Some people just don't care about their hands, they don't nurture them. And this is a pity, because not everyone is tolerant enough to continue an acquaintance with someone who doesn't take care of his own body. When breaking off a contact - be it private or business he will certainly not give a real reason if he is polite. Instead of guessing at various reasons, however, we will do best if we take the time to nurture ourselves, which the handy lab will certainly help with.
Irena Kaminska-Radomska
