親幾次（臉頰） How many kisses (on the cheek)
後生在托兒所莫名的有一些死忠的粉絲。其中一個粉絲不斷地要求他的父母約個日期一起玩，所以就約啦。
The son for some unknown reason (at least unknown to me) have some diehard fans at day care. One of the fans kept on asking his parents to arrange a play date with the son, so it eventually happened.
男孩欸的爸媽都是歐洲人，爸爸是德國人，媽媽是義大利人。他們另外也邀請了托兒所裡的另一個男孩逼一起到了他們濱海的公寓拜訪。因為三個小孩子平常在托兒所了解彼此的習性，就算沒有大人在旁邊看著，關在房間裡一起玩玩具也完全沒有爭吵，玩得不亦樂乎。
Boy A’s parents are both Europeans; the dad is German and the mum is Italian. They also invited boy B from day care to visit their beachside apartment. As the three boys knowing each other’s playing habits from day care, they were playing happily without any disputes or fights by themselves, despite not having any adults’ supervision.
男孩欸的爸媽跟我們說他們在新冠病毒第一波影響的時候看準了新冠病毒對航空業的打擊，在航空公司跳樓大拍賣的同時買了機票套餐，等新冠病毒的影響緩和點的時候可以用機票回歐洲探親。
Boy A’s parents told us that they bought the airfare package during the first wave of COVID while the airlines sold those deals at a steep discount to keep the cash afloat, and have been waiting to use the package to go back to Europe for a visit once the impact of COIVD is more tamed.
男孩欸的媽媽說在義大利都要戴口罩，這讓我想到一個問題。
Boy A’s mum said that it’s mandatory to wear masks in Italy, and that led me to a question.
於是我開始鋪述我問題的背景，說起在歐洲在每個國家和別人見面的時候要親臉頰，我的經歷是讓我覺得越南方的國家好像親的次數越多。在盧森堡和英國大部分是親一次臉頰（當然這跟對方的國籍也有關），法國、義大利式兩次（左邊一次右邊一次）。但是在南義也被人家親過三次臉頰（第一次去倫敦旅行也被陌生人親兩次）。男孩欸的媽媽非常的不以為然，說她也聽過有外國人說在義大利被親三次臉頰，但是她一個土生土長的義大利人卻從沒有親三次臉頰的情況。男孩欸的爸爸於是說，可能是占外國人的便宜。
So I started the background of my question by stating that in Europe, when we greet others we do kisses on the cheek, and my experiences made me feel that the southern the countries are, the more kisses you do on the cheek. In Luxembourg and in England, most the time it was one kiss by the cheek (and of course it depends on the counterparts’ nationalities), while in France and Italy, it was normally 2-kiss (one on the right and the one on the left). Nevertheless I had been given three kisses on the cheek in the southern Italy (and once by a stranger in London when I visited there for the first time). A sense of disapproval on that statement was raised by boy A’s mum, who commented that she had heard of something similar by foreigners, but being a native Italian, she hadn’t experienced doing three kisses on the cheek before. Boy A’s dad therefore said, maybe people are taking advantages of foreigners.
我內心翻白眼，豆腐渣一樣的便宜也要佔？
I rolled my eyes at heart, what advantage? Of me?
麥恪旺先生不愧是和我認識了一甲子的人，對我的理性的（可能非理性的比例高些）隨機性聯想很有概念，於是問了我鋪成這麼久還沒問出來的問題：那在義大利大家戴著口罩見面還親臉頰嗎？
Mr McWang, for knowing me more than half a century, understands my rational (higher percentage as irrational really) randomness logics, so he ended up asking the question I hadn’t got to: so with people wearing masks in Italy, do they still do greeting kisses on the cheek?
男孩欸的媽媽無解。
Boy A’s mum did not know the answer.
無三小路用通識之見面禮儀 Useless Common Sense of Greetings
這裡講的見面禮儀不考慮目前新冠狀病毒影響下的見面招呼法，比如說肘擊、碰拳等。因為，不是應該大家都盡量待在家裡嗎？外面感染度這麼高出去混是一個什麼概念？
The greetings noted here do not consider the current greeting standards under the influence of COVID, like elbow bump or fist bump — for people should stay home as much as possible, not going out and about considering the skyrocketing infectious cases out there.
大部分初次見面大家都握個手，尤其對方是男性或是在工作場合。
Most the time people shake hands at first encounter, especially with a male counterpart or at a work environment.
但是如果是社交場合的話，就算是初次見面如果對方是女性的話在美國多半也是擁抱（上身前傾大概就是肩膀碰一下這樣），歐洲的話就是親臉頰，但也不是真的嘴巴親上去，就是臉頰貼著臉頰這樣算一個親。
In a social environment, the greeting would normally be a hug in the States if the counterpart is a female even if it’s the first encounter (the hug is more a touch of each other’s shoulders by leaning your upper body forward), and kiss(es) on the cheek in Europe — not really with mouth on the cheek but cheek against cheek would be considered a ‘kiss’.
如果雙方都是男性的話，或者是你不知道該怎麼打招呼的話，最保險還是握個手就好了。
If both parties are male — or when in doubt — it’s safer just to shake hands.
