Random Thoughts - Fist Bumps

With paranoia towards contracting new strands of Influenza, the Common Cold, and other contagious ailments seemingly (and rightfully) on the rise, it's inevitable that an aversion towards shaking hands with your fellow man (or woman) would follow suit. However, there is something about a particular ever-growing alternative that leaves me shaking my head, cringing, or even feeling a little queasy - the "fist bump."

I have always been late to the party of new bro-tastic handshakes and other physical greetings. The handshake-bro-hug combo, that one where two bros pound fists top-to-bottom, then bump from the front (never cared to learn the name), and that one where there is some form of double sideways hand-slapping before ending in a bump immediately come to mind. It's doubly-awkward when an individual whom I have never made any form of physical contact with decides to pull one of these kinesthetic concoctions out of the bag, leaving me to react in an anxious, dumbfounded manner. In my mind, the "fist bump" is firmly planted within this realm of bro-centric physical greetings.

You see, I play hockey in a couple of men's leagues (beer leagues, if you will), and I have played the sport for over twenty years. I am certainly no stranger to "fist bumps." To me, encountering such an exchange between teammates at the rink is to be expected, mainly because an air of machismo surrounds hockey and renders any form of fist-centric greeting outside of a formal handshake acceptable. Of course, this does not count the customary "handshake line."

However, the "fist bump" has infiltrated more formal realms within American society, and I have struggled to adapt to this invasion. For example, I have a 9-5 job in an office, and the "fist bump" has unceremoniously found its way into my professional life. It is not a widespread invasion yet, but an attack nonetheless - one for which I do not have defenses built. When a "fist bump" situation presents itself in the office, or in any other formal environment, is it wrong that I am overcome with bewilderment - a feeling of "what the hell just happened?" after the deed is done? To take it a step further, am I the only hockey-playing "millennial" who finds the "fist bump" excessively awkward outside of the hockey rink?