Tag: No High-Fives

For those who know me, it’s no secret that I hate high-fiving. Well… hate is a very strong word, so I’ll say that I strongly dislike high-fives. Kind of like how I’ll say that I strongly dislike people chewing with their mouth open. But alas. I digress. According to the National High Five Project, today (the third Thursday in April) is National High-5 Day. Ugh. Don’t get me wrong- the fundraising aspect of this project is great. And at the fundamental level, a high-five is quite the celebratory gesture usually coupled with excitement, laughs and whoops. I’m all for happiness between people. But I just don’t like high-fives. Like, at all. I’ll be the first to admit, however, that the issue is my own.

I’m quite a social guy, and I don’t think I’m very awkward socially. But when it comes to high-fives, I just can’t perform. And I’m AWKWARD. My execution is horrendous. Sloppy even. I’ve tried lining up my elbow. I’ve tried not thinking about it and letting it happen naturally. In the end, I’m just not good at them. I even get nervous and a bit anxious when someone goes to high-five me. Yes, I know. It’s weird. But it is what it is. And they’re ridiculous-looking hand-slaps anyway. I think my high-fiving problem stems from some epic high-five misses during my youth. Obviously, I’ve repressed these memories since I can’t recall any examples, but it’s probably for the best. I do recall, however, some extremely awkward high-five misses during my adult life, which has now left me emotionally scarred for life.

Thankfully, my friends understand my pain by reminding me every National High-Five Day that I should like high-fives. Even when they’re not around, they send their sentiments virtually. Here are some examples from 2010:

In my opinion, there is only one situation where high-fiving is appropriate: High-fiving babies. When I saw this in The Book of Awesome, I thought… High-fiving babies ARE awesome! According to 1000 Awesome Things by Toronto blogger Neil Pasricha, the #886 Awesome Thing: “High fiving Babies. Because they don’t usually leave you hanging. AWESOME!”

Speaking of 1000 Awesome Things, after 4 years of counting down, Neil hit the #1 Awesome Thing today. And what is the #1 Awesome Thing?

“Anything you want it to be.”

He says: “The awesome movement isn’t going to stop. By saying it’s anything you want it to be I’m implying that you get to choose, you get to take it as far as you want, you get to fill in the blank. Awesome goes on forever.” Pretty open-ended, but I couldn’t agree with him more! Witnessing the beauty around me, approaching the world with positivity, appreciating the simple pleasures, and being surrounded by great people and loved ones… it’s hard not to agree that there’s so much awesomeness out there. With that said, though, I still don’t understand high-fives. And I still don’t think they’re awesome.