Legal kissing with colleagues

Under the shower, somewhere between lathering up and washing my hair, I suddenly felt a bit of: fear combined with doubt. It's January 2nd, the first office day of the year and that means kissing. And then I wondered: should I kiss my colleagues or better yet: do I actually want to kiss my colleagues?

I confess right away, the answer is: sometimes I do want to, but sometimes not at all. It's nothing personal, but take the combination of early morning, only one cup of coffee in, a well-filled challenging agenda, and people, and I just don't immediately think about kissing. On top of that, there was a stubborn rain shower over Amsterdam this morning, which means you have a hundred percent chance of getting soaked and a similarly wet kiss.

During the New Year's transition, I feel no discomfort about kissing. First, I give my love a kiss, then my friends, and on New Year's Day, the whole family. No problems with that. Sometimes your colleagues are just as close, I'm such a lucky bastard, which makes kissing less awkward, but there are always a few where you don't immediately feel the urge to kiss.

Maurice de Hond did some research for SBS and questioned quite a few Dutch people. What turns out? We are particularly divided when it comes to kissing behavior. About 49 percent doesn't mind a nice smooch on the cheek from a colleague, but 44 percent prefers to skip it. This is definitely about me, because I hop from one percentage to the other. With the boss, it turns out to be a different story, as only 27 percent gives that person a kiss without embarrassment. I don't get it, because I would give May a big kiss first. The traditional kissing remains a favorite, because when we do it, we give three.

Now there are some solutions if you're not a big fan of kissing on New Year's Day. For when you'd rather skip the kissing round, here are some tips.

1. Take the first week of January off. Problem solved, because even the most determined and persistent kisser has had enough of that kissing after a week.
2. After January 6th, you can skip the kissing, because etiquette states that this is the latest date to wish it. Look, you can chase them back to the office with that, with many thanks for the wishes of course.
3. The consistent implementation of one kiss combined with a half hug is a keeper, without sticky smacks on the cheek or bad breath moving from left to right in front of your face. Just the half job is more than enough.
4. Pretend you forget it. Maybe this is my tactic. Get so fully absorbed in your work that no one has the guts to interrupt it. For this, you do need to be present first, but I was this morning.
5. Make sure you're late and call out the congratulations at a loud volume across the workplace, meanwhile making a big dash, waving, and watching out for tackles from enthusiastic colleagues.
6. Go work somewhere where they are cuddly and kissable. At Amayzine for example, that makes January 2nd particularly doable.

A virtual New Year's wish from me to you. With or without three kisses, you can choose.