-- is as predictable as blinking . You 'll observe hand-to-face gestures in every culture and society , as well as in our closest primate relatives , the monkeys and apes . There 's nothing wrong with face touching . Nothing , that is , unless you 're afraid of germs . And today , many of us around the world are terrified by these tiny organisms , especially ones that cause swine flu . Merely by shaking the hand of someone infected by the swine-flu virus , we risk infection each time we inadvertently reach up and touch our faces . Physicians urge that we wash right after shaking hands . But since the anthropologist in me knows that , as a primate , you 'll touch your face before washing , germs will inevitably visit unsuspecting lids , lip , and noses . The human handshake itself , meanwhile , is a widespread gesture used for meeting , greeting , and sealing a deal . It 's a ritualized gripping of another 's hand , with one or more up-and-down -LRB- or , in Texas , sideways -RRB- motions followed by a quick release . Since the fingertips
Editor 's note : David B. Givens is Director of the Center for Nonverbal Studies in Spokane , Washington . He is the author of `` Love Signals : A Practical Field Guide to the Body Language of Courtship '' -LRB- St. Martin 's , New York , 2005 -RRB- , `` Crime Signals : How to Spot a Criminal Before You Become a Victim '' -LRB- St. Martin 's , 2008 -RRB- , and the forthcoming `` The Body of Work : Sightreading the Language of Business , Bosses , and Boardrooms . '' His online Nonverbal Dictionary is used around the world as a reference tool . Barack and Michelle Obama celebrate winning the Democratic nomination with a fist bump in 2008 . SPOKANE , Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The H1N1 swine flu virus is putting our most familiar gesture of greeting -- handshakes -- at risk . As an anthropologist who watches people for a living , I can tell you that human beings touch their own faces with their own fingertips hundreds , if not thousands of times a day . Repeated face touching -- especially finger contact with eyelids , lips , and nostrils