The Cheek Kiss "Flinch" - You Know Its happened To You!

It always happens to me like this….I meet a girl and lean in to give her a harmless cheek kiss as part of my ritual greeting. As I pull away she turns her face and leans in for the other cheek, but abruptly stops herself as she sees me pulling back. At that same moment my brain registers her movement a millisecond too late and I lean back in just as she realizes I wasn’t going for the full two points. We share a brief moment of physical awkwardness, revealing our mutually deferring social mores. We have just executed the all too familiar “Cheek Flinch.”

Far more common in Europe, the Mediterranean and Latin America than in most of the US, cheek kissing’s most prevalent use in America is arguably right here in Miami. Depending on the local culture, cheek kissing may be considered appropriate between a man and a woman, a parent and a child, two women, or two men. The latter is socially accepted in Eastern and South Eastern Europe and in some countries of South Western Europe and the Middle East but may bring up associations with homosexuality in Asia, Latin America and the US.

Here in South Beach, with so many divergent cultures and backgrounds all melding together, its difficult to know what to go for when meeting someone. In the United States, adult cheek kissing is usually limited to one cheek, but is normally attributed as a “Big City” phenomenon. Here in Miami, with such a massive Latin and European influence it can tend to blow the bell curb, and as individuals from various cultures greet eachother, an epidemic of “Flinches” occur.

Here is a rough breakdown to help you find success in your never-ending act of social intercourse….

American: 1 (if any)
Latin: 1-2
French: 2-3 (depending on how hot the other person is!)
Italian: 2-3 (this is also widely accepted between males and culturally has no homosexual connotations)
Arabic: 3+ (Also widely accepted between males, but in some middle eastern countries it is considered inapropriate between male & female)

Whatever your choice, in Miami I attempt to go by this rule of thumb….

If you are a Gringo, always be consistent with one, but if you hear an accent, go for two….

This of course completely gets screwed up when American girls try and act European….but hey, in the absence of any wide sweeping consistent cultural norm, it’s better than nothing!