"Did I already greet you by the hand?"

This question introduces a topic that I have often had problems with in the United States. I feel, though this isn't necessarily true, that Americans are cold and impersonal. This comes from traditions of greetings. In the United States at points it seems as though we try our hardest to avoid greetings as though they are an inconveniences. When we show up at a large gathering we might wave a greeting and say "hello everyone." After that the greeting obligation is taken care of. If people are busy they might wave or even forget the greeting all together if there has been some general awareness of the other's presence for a little while. When one leaves it is similar, you wave or shake hands from a distance, a yard or so.

In contrast when I get to work in the morning. I go around and shake hands with everyone and say hello to each one. There is no waving or nodding a greeting. On a couple of occasions not wanting to interrupt conversations I have entered a room and avoided the greeting. At that point someone is sure to comment on me being tired or something as a reason for not having greeted them. It can sometimes be hard to remember if you greeted someone when you shake thirty or forty people's hands in the morning. So the question, "have I already greeted you by the hand?" becomes one asked hopefully not more than once a day. The situation also has give rise to the necessity of the "re-hello" when someone accidentally greets you a second time.