Kiss? Hug? Fist Bump?

This past weekend I was at my first big gathering this year. It was a special birthday and like the Empress's birthday bash last July was also garden-party style. The only difference was that most of the attendees were (fully) vaccinated so there was an air of relief and readiness to party in the air and greetings were much warmer than last summer. Even so, it was still a little awkward and overwhelming. Highflyer and I made rules in the car: we wouldn't proactively initiate any cheek-kissing or hugging, but not refuse any if the other person signalled they were in kissy-kissy mode. In the end, it was a mix of kisses, waves, bows and fist bumps all around.We knew that we'd kiss the birthday girl anyway and obviously she'd be the one person whose cheeks would have been potentially "contaminated" by the majority of attendees at the end of the evening. Weird times. My (fullly vaccinated) parents obviously still have "pandemic mode" programmed and wanted to greet us with a formal distance but I decided we're okay to hug and kiss again. 

Somehow, it has all been so fast from not seeing anyone other than the person you live with in person to spending a day at the decently populated office where masks are no longer mandatory and nobody actively checks proof of test or vaccination and going for lunch in the canteen where you can grab your own cutlery and water glass again and help yourself to salad from the salad bar. 

Sometimes I feel like we're all part of a social experiment and have now reached the stage of "whatever". Now that I have finally received my second vaccination dose, kisses are welcome even though I have to admit that part of me quite liked the much shorter welcomes and goodbyes.