Apparently, there is a science to the high-five. Color me shocked, but I had no idea that there was this class of study until my daughter decided to drop a knowledge bomb on me and inform me about it. Here I was, in all my years of living on God’s green earth (which she informed me was blue, because it is mostly ocean), giving high-fives and doing it in a non-scientific manner.
See, when I give a high-five, I put my hand up and stop, allowing the person who is on the other end to aim and complete the arc, connecting the hands at the top. I do this because when I use to continue the effort I would leave the person with whose hand I connected, stinging and in pain. I tend to be forceful, exuberant even, when giving high-fives, and because I have big hands and know how to cup them just right to create the greatest amount of impact, the resulting connection is quite magnificent. Having worked with kids for such a long time, I recognized that this could be a bad thing, so I adopted the much more passive version that I use now. Unless of course it’s a teenager who annoys me, then… well, full impact mode is a go. Continue reading The Science of the High Five
Thoughts from the Front 