ObviousGuy's Journal: Train people: The Handshake Trio

When I was in highschool I used to hang out with a cool bunch of guys. We'd go pick up girls after football games, we'd go to parties to pick up girls, and sometimes we barbecued and invited girls over. It was a good time to be young. We also had a handshake. It wasn't something that we agreed on or anything, it just kind of came into being. Nothing complicated, it barely consisted of anything more than randomly slapping in the general direction of the other's hand. But it was our 'in' code.

After going to college, that kind of went away. I moved thousands of miles away from my highschool friends and gradually fell out of touch. More to the point, I fell out of practice of shaking hands that way. These days I don't even shake hands anymore, such is life in Japan.

The Handshake Trio rode with my from Ochanomizu to Shinjuku today. Not really 'with' me, but close enough that I could notice that they had their own special handshake. The three were in their early twenties, and they obviously just entered the job market judging by their fresh suits. Possibly bank employees or something similar.

At Shinjuku two of them split off from the third, but as they got off they gave each other their 'in' handshake. Normal Grip->Arm Wrestle Grip->Wonder Twins Power Activate. It was quaint.

It was quaint up until the girl in the group messed up halfway through her shake and the guy reset the shake to the beginning. The second time through they went much slower. At that point quait turned into inane.

By the time you graduate from college aren't you also graduated from that kind of behavior at least in public? From what I understand certain fraternities have the same type of thing, but thankfully I've never seen such a weird public display of comaraderie.

Now I'd like to invite you all over to Tokyo for burgers and beer. Don't forget to bring the chicks.

Fresh suits!

[Xerithane]

The three were in their early twenties, and they obviously just entered the job market judging by their fresh suits. Possibly bank employees or something similar.

Nothing is better than sitting at Shinjuku and watching the new employees in their new (usually cheap) suits. After spending one afternoon in Shinjuku, I noticed two distinct types of new-comers. The confidence-because-I'm-wearing-a-suit type, and the this-suit-doesn't-fit-me type. Pretty amusing. My guess is the guys were the suit-doesn't-fi