peck on the cheek ewwwwwwwwwwww!!! HELLO!!! oh! my gosh. i'm sorry. this isn't right. there are a hundred other ways to show affection to people you WORK with, and KISSING ON THE CHEEK ISN'T ONE OF THEM. hugs already raise my eyebrows - you do that to close friends, and what would happen to the organization if you're friends to everyone you work with? then again, i dunno. i'm prolly just naive.

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Kissing colleagues get scrutiny at highest level
By Jean Patteson
Tribune Newspapers: Orlando Sentinel
Published December 1, 2004

As actor Dooley Wilson crooned in Casablanca: "You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss ..."

But is it?

A photograph that ran on the front page of newspapers across the country last month raises the question: How do we view kissing between colleagues?

The image shows President Bush planting a kiss on the right cheek of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice after tapping her for secretary of state. Bush is pictured in profile, looking down at her face. Rice leans toward the president, eyes closed, lips parted.

Was the kiss just a kiss--a spontaneous expression of affection and congratulations? Or was it a breach of protocol? Or a chauvinistic misstep?

No surprise in these divisive times: Opinion is divided. ...

"The only appropriate form of touching between non-intimates is the firm handshake," says Maralee McKee, who owns Orlando-based The Etiquette Answer.

In a way, the photograph of Bush kissing Rice is unfair, McKee says. It captures a fleeting moment and freezes it forever, turning a peck on the cheek into an everlasting smooch.

"It really wasn't that intimate," McKee says. "Remember, it happened in public, in a room full of photographers. They weren't trying to hide it.

"But there's always the possibility it will be misunderstood. Especially in a political arena, where opponents are always looking for openings to bash the other guy." [ more ]  ¶ 12/03/2004 04:05:00 PM