How do the men in your family greet each other?

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The recent holy-days have gotten me thinking about different customs in different families. It has always struck me that my husband greets his father and brothers with a handshake. My brothers, on the other hand, do the one-armed hug thing. 🙂

I understand that in some cultures men kiss each other. Some bow. Others smile and high-five… I’m curious as to how men in your families greet each other at family gatherings…
 
I am the only person who voted…?

They will handshake, and hug, sometimes that really awkward hug thing.
 
We look at each other and say “Im not going to hug you”
 
estesbob said:
We look at each other and say “Im not going to hug you”
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That’s it in our family, too! My brother and his then girlfriend used to come over quite a bit. When they’d leave she’d hug each of us, I’d hug my brother, and then my brother and DH would look at each other really awkwardly and then shake hands. It was hilarious!
 
I put handshake because that’s what happens most of the time. My husband will hug his uncle, once in a great while his dad and did hug his grandpa when he was alive. On my side of the family men do not hug just a firm handshake.

I’ve also noticed on my hubby’s side relatives kiss on the lips (not the men) but like an aunt to a nephew or grandma to grandchild ect. There is no lip kissing on my side. That really freaked me out when I first started meeting my hubby’s family and they would try to greet me with a kiss. My parents don’t even kiss on the lips. The only time I’ve seen them kiss on the lips in in their wedding picture. (Kind of sad I know.)
 
I didn’t know which to choose, cause none really applied.
Then too, it depends on which side of the family you’re talking about.

My husband’s mother’s family, they typically shake hands, but my husband never hugs or shakes his own father’s hand. At least I have never seen it. They usually just say “hello” and other niceties.

My mother’s family, men usually shake hands, some hug.
My father’s family, men usually shake hands.

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As far as women ~~
I am not a big kissing kind of person, I give hugs, and occaisionally shake hands with the fellas. I like hugs more.
My mom’s sisters are all kissers. My mom, not so much.
I never liked the kissing thing, or the pinching the cheeks when I was a kid. EW…
 
They just say “Hey, what’s up?” Not a very formal family.
 
Men in my family, one arm hug…

Husbands family, shake hands…

I’m Italian…we hug everyone.😃
 
Had to think for a second … the women far outnumber the men in my family, so I remember an awful lot of hugging and kissing over the years, just can’t recall to what extent the men get in on it though…

Mostly hugging I think, we’re a very Mediterranean-type physically expressive family.
 
rayne89 said:
I’ve also noticed on my hubby’s side relatives kiss on the lips (not the men) but like an aunt to a nephew or grandma to grandchild ect. There is no lip kissing on my side. That really freaked me out when I first started meeting my hubby’s family and they would try to greet me with a kiss.
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Yes! That’s exactly what happened to me when I first started meeting my in-laws!

Even after 18 years I still turn my cheek when I say goodbye to my kissing in-laws, rather than kiss them on the lips. Ironically, my family is the more affectionate, demonstrative, hugging, kissing (but on the cheeks!) type. And the in laws (men) are more “the less you touch me the better”.

However, with my immediate family, I kiss our children on the lips. Even at the sign of peace at mass.
 
There are few men left in my family. We live about a thousand miles apart and don’t get together often. It was such a surprise to meet a cousin I hadn’t seen in 30 years that we both just stood there and looked at each other.
In my families’ cultures the men didn’t hug each other.
In the culture where I grew up and continue to be surrounded by, everybody hugs everybody as a greeting…you should have seen midnight New Year’s Eve, at this bi-national celebration some of us hadn’t been together for years so the hugs were even stronger.
 
Julianna said:
I’m Italian…we hug everyone.😃
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Ha, the same here! The women hug everybody and the men sometimes hug, but usually do that thing where they make a fist & then bump each other’s knuckles. 😃
 
We hit them all, from hugs to glares, but my side of the family is, hmmm, let’s say less demonstrative. It depends on whom it is, and what history they have. But I married (happily!!!) into a bunch of gregarious, hugging, kissing, handshakers with both genders…with an occasional glare thrown in for good measure.
 
I didn’t vote cause they don’t do any of that. They say “Hi” in a reserved sort of way and thats it. No glaring, no bodily contact. But then again the only men in my family married into the family and they are mostly quiet types in a family of lots of loudly boisterous females. 😃
 
For the men, my (six) brothers and (seven) brother-in-laws traditionally give firm handshakes. That’s usually followed by compliments on how beautiful the wives look. That’s usually followed by the humerous jousting that lasts the evening.

The women in the family are definitely huggers. Some even feel the need to ‘scream’ when they make eye contact before the running hugs start.

This kids vary. Some are handshakers, some huggers, and some just walk around with a confused look asking what relation they are. hehe.
(We usually rent a hall because we have over 200 neices, nephews, and grand neices and nephews. )
 
Depends on which family. I don’t know many men on my mothers side of the family, although I’m pretty sure they don’t kiss each other. But my brother, my father, and the men in my father’s (Italian) family all kiss and/or hug each other hello/goodbye. I always figured it was an ethnic thing, but I don’t really know that. Now my dh and his family - if they’re being all formal, they’ll shake hands. But more often than not, they are so uncomfortable with formalities that you’d count yourself lucky to get a nod and a “Hi.”
 
Husband is a hugger… my dad is a handshaker…

It’s fun watching the two of them greet… dad reaches out his hand and my husband ignores it and hugs him. 😃
Poor dad. 😉
 
What about a hearty jab on the shoulder?

I tried the hugging thing for some time. I don’t like it. But I don’t like the cold, limp handshake thing either.

I’m in the process of conducting a personal experiment. I’m greeting other men with a robust shake along with a solid pat on the shoulder. Or messing up their hair, or a high-five, or a hearty shove … and a huge grin. I think men like the physical contact, but in a more robust way.

You kind of have to judge the situation and the man. Some men weigh all of 130 lbs soaking wet. You ought not shove them across the room.
 
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