Note: all references to kissing are cheek-to-cheek!
I grew up in Suffolk, Va. A tiny town famous for its peanuts and the role it played in The Color of Water - the first very favorable; the second not so much so. In Suffolk, kissing is an acceptable greeting applying to young-to-old, close neighbors, siblings, in-laws, and family. This habit does not apply young-to-young or male-to-male accept in rare cases.
From there we moved to Cave Creek, AZ. This is a suburb of Phoenix. No one is really from Phoenix. Everyone just moves there because the weather is great. And yes, 110 degrees is great! In Arizona, kissing wasn’t a daily habit. It took a couple of years to cultivate a friendship where kissing as a greeting was appropriate. A kiss was usually held out for holidays.
Seven years later, we are back in Virginia. Kissing is now acceptable with the added group of best friends boyfriends, fiances, husbands and of course babies!
Off to Argentina! This is where kissing takes on a life of itself. Male/male, teen/teen, tennis coach, golf coach, Bunco friends, housekeepers, school teachers! Whew, I have never kissed so many people in my life. And if you were really good friends, you kissed both cheeks! I remember entering a morning coffee with moms, each woman rose to kiss my cheek! How important did that make me feel! A simple human touch to acknowledge the fact you were present.
3 kissable years later, I found us in Seattle. Now while Seattle is beautiful and it really doesn’t rain that much, Seattle is missing something. Oh, I think it called human interaction. People in Seattle just don’t interact well face-to-face. They email, cell, Facebook, tweet, text, phone, fax, scan, copy and compile at the most impressive rate. But face-to-face most (not all) really don’t know how to handle it. To say the least, kissing was out of the question!
I now find myself in Pretoria, South Africa. It’s a very proper Dutch city. The educated speak Africaans first and English second. Both languages are spoken with beautiful song like accents. Everyone speaks to you. Shopkeepers wave. Neighbors wave. New aquaintances shake your hand warmly. But there is no kissing until…
While attending a meeting regarding a school event, a woman entered with her friend. Both warmly kissed each of us on the cheek. I made the assumption she knew everyone and didn’t want to exclude me from her greeting. But NO! She heralded from Brazil. Yes! A kissing country - AT LAST!
In that brief second, I was returned to South America. I was reminded that the simple act of a kiss brings people closer. It makes them feel important. It was a kiss that made this stranger my new friend.
