Never touch a knight’s beard

In medieval Europe, if you touched a knight’s beard, you were going to have to face him in a duel at dawn. His beard was his honor, according to the Chicago Tribune, and an unbidden touch was an insult.

Touch has been an essential part of human life through ages and cultures.

It has been considered the primary way to learn. Today, if visiting a museum, no visitor would think they could or should touch that painting or handle a fossil. Yet, in the Middle Ages, you certainly would do just that. It would be the way that you learned about something. People expected to handle everything, according to medievalist.com.

Touch has been considered holy. If you were so moved in the Middle Ages, you might kiss a saint’s foot at a pilgrimage site. That touch was considered to offer miraculous benefits.

A king’s touch was considered to be healing for some centuries. The king’s miracle was achieved through touching or stroking a sick person.

Since the dawn of civilization, the rules for touch have been both enshrined in culture and changed.

In Turkey, for example, a friend might greet another with a kiss on both cheeks, but this is considered inappropriate for business.

In Pakistan, a man greets a younger woman by lightly putting his hand on top of her head.

Nowhere in the West has the idea of touch changed more than in the workplace where a pat on the shoulder has been considered sexist.

Yet, rules change and remain the same. Today, it would still be considered rude for an acquaintance to reach out and touch a fellow’s beard, or a woman’s hair, even if it won’t end in a duel.

As rules in the workplace evolve, touch has become a tricky issue.

Between close friends, even at work, a hug is acceptable, especially as a way of congratulating or sympathizing. It’s best to remember that it takes about 200 hours of close contact to become friends with someone, according to Business Insider. A recent study by The Creative Group showed that 65 percent of those in advertising or marketing said hugging a co-worker was very common and 23 percent said hugging a client was very common. On the other hand, 18 percent of those surveyed said hugging was never done in the workplace.

A handshake has been considered the safest way to touch and say hello. But during COVID-19, this has also changed. It remains to be seen whether a handshake will stay in the lexicon of Western touch.

The best practice for workplaces today is a no-touch policy.