vincent nguyen

I don’t know how Bush was raised, as far back as I can remember, my mom, teachers and others in society have all taught me to respect other people’s private space. Everyone has a private zone extending about two feet from outwards, which is roughly arms length. So what could have caused Bush to cross the line and offer up what seems to be an unsolicited shoulder massage to Chancellor Merkel? Who knows, perhaps he felt the need to resort to another method of communication to overcome his lack of verbal skills?  Is this how

Michael Shaughnessy says,

I can only imagine what Chancellor Merkel was thinking and it can’t be positive. While ‘personal space’ is less than what you have in the US, Germans still have social tabus on touching, especially in such a public forum as the G8 summit. Germans may be obsessed with shaking hands, but it is a very brief shake. Even family members will shake hands with each other. Touching of this sort is for -very- close friends in private. At least this produced yet another cool German word: “Blitz-Massage.”
Here is an excerpt from an etiquette guide for Germany, interesting and funny stuff: Link.

Yes, Bush is the President and all, but is this the right example that a world leader should set?

Bush’s grope: “Blitz-Massage” or Vulcan nerve pinch? [Via Boing Boing]