"Shake!!!!"

I learnt how to shake hands last night. It was a pretty easy trick to master, and the treats didn't taste bad either. I actually new how to do it by the second try, but I pretended not to know to get more faux meat sticks. I always wondered what the deal was with shaking someones paw, although I'm sure there's some scientific historical explanation for it. Normally, we sniff butts to meet each other, which makes sense to me, but I just can't understand the paw shaking business. Then there's the high five thing, or the fist bump, or when you see two guys greet each other with a half-arsed hug and kind of lean in to each others shoulder. I wonder what you would think if you came from say, Mars, and saw people doing all these strange greeting manouvers to each other. Would a martian think it's weird? or would he just wink his three eyes and extend his green hand?

Phil