When you are first introduced to someone in Puerto Rico you shake hands. But, after that and forever more - you kiss them when greeting each other. You lean left, so your right cheeks press together and give an kiss. 💋
I love this!
Here I kiss our real estate broker, the architect, the architect’s wife, our construction foreman, our CPA, and our decorator every time I see them. I kiss our daughter’s teachers when I see them at school. I kiss her friends. Yes, even teenagers kiss their friends’ parents. This practice is so much warmer, more endearing and ingratiating that just a little wave 👋🏽 and a “hey” or a handshake like we usually do on the US mainland.
Did you ever think of how a handshake literally keeps you “at arms length” from another person? It keeps your heart far from theirs. I think that might be where the phrase even comes from! It established and maintains a large personal space boundary, or a protective bubble around you.
Yep...I looked it up. One of the definitions for the phrase “at arms length” is:
a distance discouraging personal contact or familiarity
I’m DONE with that ☝🏼fear based, closed hearted, maintain your boundaries way of living 😝.
I know this isn’t just a Puerto Rican custom and that many other cultures physically embrace more when greeting than US mainlanders. But PR is where I’ve woken up to the difference, so PR gets credit for this in my little experience of life.
So I am totally adopting and embracing this PR custom of greeting with a kiss going forward! 🤗😗 I was already a hugger...but look out now if I see you face to face. 😉 I’m coming in to really greet you by breaking the arms length boundary and embracing cheek to cheek. 💋♥️
