Contrary to what others like to believe, customs, courtesies and civilities (begging your
pardon for the alliteration fever) all differ in intent, even as a very thin line separates
each from the other. By chance, I encountered an aspiring politician want-to-be (is that
what they are called now?) with her muscle and ‘alalays’ in tow during her opening day
campaign sortie by the roadside one morning. Almost immediately one has to ask, is
her fleeting and impersonal handshake to everyone she meets, complemented by a
paste-up smile, dictated by the standard rule book all politicos follow when wooing their
constituents? Or is that really her own personal take at courtesy?
If it were the former, then running through the motions of shaking hands, firmly as they
may have been, but with shifty eyes moving on to the next person, to me smacks of
false sincerity. If ever there was a hidden language in the gesture, it might just as well
have been ‘let’s get this over with and can I have the hand sanitizer please’.
Exaggerated as that may sound, that is not an entirely make- believe scenario, mind
you. I myself have witnessed an actual incident several elections ago when a then-
governor abruptly left a park full of people during a meet-and-greet session beside the
plaza stage, to be right away met by a rubbing alcohol-bearing assistant as he headed
for his waiting Everest. As a side note, the fellow must have either been a seer on the
side or a time traveler, because Covid was still unheard of and actually several years
away.
Alas, who’s to blame if on the topic of sincerity these days, especially during these
unfolding pre-election and campaign period, the one who is always put on the spot is
the ‘poor’ politician? Since time immemorial, it has always been such. How about the
elephant in the room? If there’s really one question that should be out in the open, it’s
why not us too, the electorate? As the saying goes, we are what we eat. Aren’t we too
gifted with a paste-up smile and endowed with a warm (if not lukewarm) handshake or
pat on the back as we greet our rivals and acquaintances ‘happy new year or Merry
Christmas , happy birthday, ad nausiam’?
Clearly, our customs, courtesies and civilities are all intertwined so cleanly, in everyone
they make for a fine thread, as all play the decent card. If by chance, you still insist
you’re not in this class, well that’s already saying a lot.
