Shake Things Up

First a little quiz.

It is said that there is a tradition at the Supreme Court where every Justice shakes the hand of every other Justice prior to entering the courtroom to take their seats.

The question is: how many handshakes are involved? Do you think the answer is obvious? Not once has anyone answered me correctly on the fly. A few get it right if given some time for reflection and figuring.

Send in your answers as comments. I promise to provide the correct answer and not embarrass those who didn’t get it.

Some of you may have discerned a troubling lack of civility of late in our public discourse. I would like to recommend a possible antidote.

We should hold off in implementing it, so as to not change the election results.

Seriously, the time needed to put a campaign together doesn’t make it possible quickly enough. There would also be someone seeing it as partisan. So let’s see if we can get it in gear in time to effect the tenor and tone of the new Congress when it meets in January.

The idea may have been spurred by the upcoming Rally to Restore Sanity. I wanted to keep it simple. I wanted to keep it noncontroversial. I wanted to keep it easy and inexpensive. It does not require riding a bus to the National Mall.

Can we just shake hands? It doesn’t require a long-term commitment. It doesn’t require extensive agreement. It doesn’t require elaborate training.

There are a couple of potential problems, however. I want to say this with due regard for everyone’s feelings.

When you shake someone’s hand, it is common to make a brief comment. It may be something as innocuous as “Good morning.” It may be unintentionally loaded for some people, as with “God bless you.”

The idea behind this being to bring us a few degrees closer together, not to accomplish the impossible of actually uniting the United States, we need to be as considerate as possible. A simple “Thank you” will be appreciated. Some people, myself included, may be tired of “Have a nice day” but I promise not to retaliate with “You have some food stuck in your teeth.”

Those working in Manhattan may prefer not to shake every hand on their way to work. It might cause them to run late. There may even be other situations that call for a measure of restraint. However, it might be a good idea to make an extra effort to shake hands with those obviously different than you; a different ethnic group, a homeless person, a short person, even one of a different gender.

How can we get there? It would be wonderful if someone could quickly come up with a video that goes viral on YouTube. A modicum of funding would help provide a staff to work on promotion. A few celebrities could give the effort a high profile. Remember though, any celebrity or funder needs to be seen as nonpartisan or pair up with someone perceived as an appropriate balance.

If you have any ideas, let me know. If you know a celebrity, send this to him or her. If you are on speaking terms with your local politician, suggest it. If you are Bill Gates, let’s talk.