H1N1 virus forces French to bid adieu to kiss

[47of74]

Source: CNN

PARIS, France (CNN) - It goes without saying that France is a land that puts a certain value on kissing.

Hands get shaken; hands get kissed. And the light cheek-to-cheek peck, known as "la bise," is a social greeting, woven in at the very youngest age.

Some observes joke that before the French could ever give up such social graces, pigs would fly.

But then ... swine flu.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/13/france.kiss/index.html

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D'oh!

[AnneD]

1. Pigs Fly/Swine Flu....

Boo! Stop hamming it up. Way to butcher a story-with a bad pun. I'm bacon you to stop it.

[MissMillie]

2. the kissing is probably more benign than the handshake

unless, of course, people can be convinced to keep their hands away from their faces.

[FarCenter]

3. Hand hygiene is necessary anyway, because of all the things you touch that others touched

But social kissing is a disgusting custom.

Generally, handshaking should be dispensed with too.

People should stay at least 6 feet apart, smile and nod their heads when greeting.

[w4rma]

5. It's an awesome custom. We might fight less, here in America, if more of us adopted it. (nt)

[percussivemadness]

4. i was hoping that Gene Simmons had been banned

ah well, I can continue to hope...

[uppityperson]

6. Lips touch nothing when you bise. Cheeks touch, and you "air kiss"

I made the mistake, once, of actually kissing a cheek. It was very embarrassing.

Your lips touch only air, NOT the other person.