I'll set the scene:- You're going for a lovely night out in one of your favourite restaurants. You park your car in the restaurant car park and another couple are just making their way to the restaurant entrance, from their car. As the man approaches the door he sneezes into his hand and then wipes his hand on his trousers. He enters the restaurant and the maître d' greets them at the door and shakes his hand. A waiter then takes them to their table. You enter the restaurant and the maître d' offers his hand for a hand shake. What do you do? Do you refuse to shake his hand? Do you shake his hand because you don't want to give offence? (You can always go and wash your hands.) Do you tell him why you won't shake his hand? Do you walk in with your hands in your pockets? Do you always make sure you wear gloves when going to a restaurant and don't take them off until you're past the maître d'? This is a serious question. I'll cover other points later.
I would do this Edit, sorry Shiney Waiter I wouldn't shake the waiters hand, but i would tell him what i saw and ask him to wash his hands and then i would shake his hand, if he didn't washs them then no tip at the ead of the meal Other customer I would sneeze into my hand then wipe into my trousers then offer my hand, if he says anything, i'll say, you done it to him i'll now do it to you, how does it feel?? Where i used to work we had one guy who allways had to be first to the tea room, one day i saw him spitting into the cups of tea/coffee so next day i had a flask of tea for me, any i made sure i was the first to make tea/coffee and in his cup he had the same , he made a comment about me having a flask and i said "well you never know what's in your cup" he was a bit sheepish
i would be a bit freaked out if the maître d' wanted to shake my hand anyway I have never been greeted by a maître d' with a handshake before anyway so prob just wouldn't shake his hand or i would be holding my phone or something when i walk in so make sure i have stuff in my hands so my hands aren't available to be shaken and he would probably not offer because of that.
I would not want to shake his hand, I would find an excuse at that moment (especially since you ask me now, after a flu that lasted a few days...)
Personally I would shake his hand and not worry about the consequences anyway I have had the flue jab,and I have and will not ever refused a handshake
Your living dangerously there wiseowl My friends still got flu from christmas and she had the flu jab but the doctors have admitted to her the jab this year wasn't right the strain but i admire you living on the wild side lol
I have never ever had a waiter in a restaurant shake hands with me so won't ever come across that type of problem Woo,we got conned this winter with the Flu jab as they reckon because of Mutation the virus jab they gave us won't do any good this year.Perhaps we ought to sue the NHS for putting us through the pain of having a needle jabbed in our arms.I bet the Dr's still got paid for it all though
I'd have to shake hands with the waiter, it would be terribly rude to dismiss a hand shake! I would go to the cloakroom to wash my hands before eating though! My grandfather brought me up for most of my childhood & he taught me to shake hands! I know this is a bit off topic but one of my pet hates is supermarket trolley handles! I'd love to test that to see what virus's & germs were in one of those!
Ditto Yes, of course I could shake his hand and then go and wash my own, but, he is going to shake other customers hands too. So, by informing him he can now choose to wash his own hands. Mind you, what do you then do if, having told him, he doesn't go wash his hands and continues to welcome new customers with a hand shake
Shiney is talking about the Maitre d' not the waiter, in this situation, having seen what had taken place I would not shake hands with the maitre d' I would just smile and say hello/good evening. I have just gotten over the worst flu bug I have ever had, I haven't had a flu jab so sorry no handshake from me.
Thanks for your comments. There are a number of points about restaurants and greetings. It has never been correct etiquette, in good restaurants, for the staff to shake hands as a greeting. Even for the owner to do so, unless you're a personal friend. A pleasant welcome is what should happen and, if you have a hat or coat they should be taken. You should then be shown to your table and the seat should be pulled out from the table for you. In the current situation of more and more unpleasant bacteria being transferred it should be a simple matter of hygiene rather than just good etiquette. There have been many recent studies into the matter and, the U.S. CDC (Centre for Disease Control) have stated that hand shaking in restaurants is now suspected to be a major cause of serious illness. The University of Aberystwyth has also done a study, published in July, to that effect http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...ng-hands-and-start-bumping-fists-9632110.html Both of them recommend avoiding hand shaking at most times but it's especially dangerous in restaurants. This has long been accepted on cruise ships where it has been taken as an important way to avoid norovirus. They have antiseptic gels at the entrance to the restaurants (been happening for well over 10 years) and at social events where passengers are introduced to the captain and officers they do not shake hands. Those ships that don't stick carefully to this regime are more likely to have norovirus. There are still major problems in restaurants that some precautions can avoid. Tests have shown that there is more bacteria on some of the menus than the toilet seats! The best restaurants clean the menus regularly. The next most infected area is the top of the back of the seats. Let the waiter pull your chair out for you. This isn't here to put you off of going to restaurants (we go fairly frequently) but to make you aware of good hygiene principles. An interesting restaurant we went to in Singapore was a very nice local Indian. They had a bank of wash basins actually in the dining room and you were encouraged to wash your hands. Most of the food was eaten without cutlery. Never be embarrassed to refuse to shake hands. You can always politely tell them it is for hygiene reasons.
Quite correct. Waiters should never offer to shake hands. They're not your personal friend. They're providing a service. You don't shake hands with a shop assistant or the mechanic at the garage. As a hairdresser I didn't let any of my staff shake hands with the customers. This wasn't just a recent thing, I was enforcing that rule over 50 years ago. You can still give a very friendly and polite service without any need to shake hands.
