A snubbed handshake is no small matter

By Mike Owuor

Few public embarrassments are as disconcerting as outstretching one’s hand expecting a handshake and having it ignored. Former State House Comptroller Matere Keriri probably knows a thing or two about such a snub.

A few years ago he was among top Government officials who had lined up at the airport to receive President Kibaki and First Lady Lucy, who were returning from a trip. The hallmark of this dour ritual is usually a handshake and, for the blue-eyed officials, a brief word or a friendly pat from the President.

So there was the comptroller waiting in line for that all-important handshake as the First Lady went through the motions. But when it was Keriri’s turn, she bypassed him and greeted the next person in line.

It may be a simple action, but the handshake, described by Wikipedia as a short ritual in which two people grasp each other’s hand, often accompanied by a brief up and down movement of the hands, is often loaded with symbolism.

In most sports there is a tradition of opposing teams lining up and shaking hands before and after a game. This also comes in handy in the course of a game when a fouled player and the offender shake hands to indicate there is no bad blood.

But liberal shaking of hands is frowned upon in some quarters. For example, teams steeped in superstition sometimes decline to shake opponents’ hands. This is informed by the fear that opposing players may have smeared powerful juju in their hands which could have a ‘weakening’ effect to those who come in contact with it.

Snubbing handshakes

But there are more curious reasons for snubbing handshakes. When she was Assistant Minister for Sports in the 1980s, Grace Ogot was said to have faced more than a few embarrassing moments in the pre-match greeting of players by top Government officials. Some footballers believed that coming into any contact with a woman before a game would invite jinx. An Assistant minister she may have been, but publicly snubbing her handshake was a sacrifice some teams were prepared to make.

But the biggest recent encounter must have been the much-anticipated first public meeting between Chelsea captain John Terry and Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge. Terry stood accused of having an affair with Vanessa Peroncel, Bridge’s former partner. Worse still, Bridge was Terry’s friend and England teammate.

The scandal, fuelled by the ferocious English media, led to Terry being stripped of the national team captaincy and Bridge declining a call up to the squad. So, in the build up to the Man City-Chelsea game, focus was on the pair’s reaction during the pre-match handshake.

City players

First, the team’s lined up side by side then City players, the visitors, walked down the line to greet Chelsea players. I leave it to an article in guardian.co.uk to describe the moment: "Bridge finally reaches Terry, who offers his hand. With the sort of exquisite timing not seen from a Manchester-based comic since the death of Bernard Manning, Bridge stops for a nanosecond, wonders whether to take the proffered mitt, looks Terry up and down dismissively, and decides not to bother, sauntering off and getting on with life. Not for the last time in the day, Terry fails to react, his paw swinging sadly in the breeze."

A handshake, even a missed one, is never a small matter.