As a child I was taught to always dry my hands after I wash them. Years of repetition means having wet hands feels abnormal and wrong, especially, for some reason, when leaving a loo.
Jakarta, however, seems to have a philosophy of letting ones hands dry naturally....on your trousers, your shirt, or maybe the person your about to meet and shake hands.
Often there is no choice as there are no drying facilities provided. The traditional electric hand blowers are about as common as free flowing traffic and the paper towel dispensers seem only to be replenished once a year when the new budget kicks in.
But even when there are paper towels available, 99% of Indonesians shun them in favour of a quick shake and maybe a quick pat across their chest.
And to think the first time I met with some visiting vendor I was surprised at how many of the team seemed to have cold sweaty palms when we shook hands.......best not to think about it too much!
posted from Bloggeroid
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