GENTLE READER: Miss Manners generally agrees with you, but worries that the social disease of being unwilling to participate in formalities is also dangerous. If you can gracefully finesse another gesture -- waving, or, in less formal situations, a fist bump -- Miss Manners will allow it.

Many people don't have good hand-washing practices, especially after using the restroom, and it grosses me out to have to touch their hands.

A cautious reader doesn’t like the idea of shaking hands with total strangers; a woman feels guilty for walking out of a musician friend’s performance before the last song.