A German etiquette group has called for a total ban on work colleagues kissing one another as greetings in the office, claiming a peck on the cheek is a form of ‘terrorism’. The German Knigge Society – which translates as etiquette or correct behaviour -said the practice has flourished in offices in recent years.
It claims it received worried calls from workers unsure how to react if someone tries to kiss them in a greeting. “This is valid immediately. There should be no kissing, at least not in the office,” the Daily Mail quoted Hans Michael Klein, chairman of the group, as saying. Klein said enquiries had flooded into his offices from varied cities including Berlin, Munich and Duesseldorf. “The suspicion for many remains that there is, or may be, an erotic component to the kissing,” he said.
“Kissing simply gets on the nerves of many at work. It is a form of terror. “In business the handshake is considered the correct greeting ritual. Stand apart from one another approximately 60cm and shake,” he added. Any closer, he said, would injure a ‘socially defined distance zone’.