Have you ever thought about all those silly things we do during our lives, things we like to call customs, though nowadays very few people have the slightest notion as to why we indulge ourselves with them?
Let’s take a simple one to start off with - have a glass of wine with friends, and what are the very first things we do with it - we say “Cheers” and we all touch glasses.
But why? What is so significant about either the word or the action? I‘ve browsed through quite a few books, etc., but I can’t find anything that relates to these quaint customs.
Then there’s another drink related custom, the one where, if you are with someone, or even in a small group, it is beholden on all those present to ‘buy a round’, and woe betide anyone who tries to dodge their ‘turn at the till’, as it were!
And yet, the system bears no relationship with what I’d call reasonable behaviour; for one, the participants are all going to finish up drinking exactly what they’d have all drunk just buying their own, plus of course, the bloke who isn’t feeling like more than two drinks, (or whatever), can stop, and let everyone else carry on at their own speed.
Being a cynical old bugger, I could well believe this particular ‘custom’ was invented by pub landlords to boost their sales!
Still hovering in the realm of booze, why is it considered impolite not to stand up at the table when a new woman joins the party? Does failing to do so imply some sort of insult to the lady, or is it an ancient system of leaping up to be ready to defend her in the event that someone attacks her?
And why are men supposed to remove their hats when entering a room, while it’s perfectly alright for women to keep theirs on, two rules that apply even in church!
I can only hazard a guess about the men; could it be that they were easier to recognize by those already there, if they ‘doffed’ their hats/helmets. While the women, less aggressive than the men, were unlikely to attack whoever the new entrant was, plus, of course they wore hats that were much more difficult to remove than simple men’s headgear.
Many of these customs seem to derive from the aggressive nature of people in the past don’t they, the habit of men tipping, (touching), the brim of their hats to other people is supposed to come from the way knights lifted the visor on their helmets, to show their faces to the person they were with, for recognition.
Until quite recently, a large percentage of gentlemen always carried a walking-stick, not because they suffered any infirmity, but because when the wearing of swords became illegal, the blokes felt naked and started carrying stick to feel better.
The stick gradually became more ornate and decorative, with fancy tops in the shape of dogs heads or many other designs. Sticks are now only used for medical reasons; the fashion element has died out.
Another dying, (or dead), tradition is the one where the gentleman always walks on the outside of the pavement when accompanying a lady. This was to avoid her dress getting splashed with mud from passing traffic on wet days, something that is more or less redundant now with better, less dirty roads.
To get back to my original thoughts, among another of the mysteries that I often think about there are the ‘good luck’ talismans we use, none of which have any basis in reality as far as I can tell. Take the one where you cross your fingers when you’re either hoping something not likely to succeed, will in fact do so simply because your fingers are crossed.
Closely allied to this one there is the ‘touch wood’ variant, again supposed to put things right when you’re not quite certain that they are.
And how about those people who will avoid stepping on the cracks in a pavement, because to do so would bring an inevitable disaster crashing down on you, similar to touching a naval seaman’s collar, for the same reason, or should I say ‘lack of reason’?
Yes, we humans can be pretty weird when it comes to these sorts of things can’t we?... ten times more clever than even the most intelligent form of other animal on the earth, yet we indulge in either traditions which no longer apply, or we reckon doing silly things with our fingers and other parts of our bodies will bring us success, totally illogically!
Anyway, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my mate Brian will like, approve and use this blog in his excellent site. 😊
© 2023 Brian Lee
