Social kissing should be banned in the workplace, says a German etiquette group quoted in a BBC news article on Thursday.
Greeting colleagues and business partners with one, two or even the Dutch way with three kisses - so much a feature of petchem conferences - is uncomfortable for many Germans, according to the Knigge Society, named after the German term for a guide to good manners.
The Blog is dumbfounded to read that the majority of Germans would prefer to stick to the traditional handshake, since this runs counter to all our experience in travelling in Europe and attending industry conferences.
Indeed the Blog has been moved to write on this very subject on numerous occasions:
Kissing ladies on one or two cheeks has been a British custom for at least 500 years !!! The Dutch academic Erasmus (1466 or 1469 - 1536) when he first visited England wrote: "The English have one practice which cannot be too much admired.When you go anywhere on a visit the girls kiss you. They kiss you when you arrive, they kiss you when you leave; and they kiss you again when you return. Go where you will, it is all kisses."
I don't think very much has changed dung the past 5 Centuries.