One of my bosses at work constantly does the fist bump. Aside from the fact that I hate him otherwise, this pisses me off because he’s at least 40, and every time he does that I don’t want to do it back because…dude you’re too old to do that.
This little thing happens about every other day and I just kind of deal with it, but today a new boss fist bumped me, and he was too old too!
For some perspective I am 23 (and a young 23 at that), and the two bosses who fist bumped are at the very youngest late 30s, but more likely in their 40s. I really think that once you pass the point of about 30 you should no longer be using the fist bump as a way of communicating, what say you dopernation??
(Howie Mandel need not answer)
You’re never too old to fist bump. But I do think of them as something you don’t do all willy-nilly. Fist bumps should only be reserved for those close to you or those people with whom you are working with on a goal oriented project.
Lance Armstrong will be 38 this year; is he too old to fist bump if he wins the tour? What about Maynard James Keenan, the lead singer for Tool and A Perfect Circle? He’s 45 years old; is he too old to fist bump? Or Dr. Dre? He is 44. Can he fist bump with impunity? What about Daniel Craig of James Bond fame? He is 41. Surely he can fist bump, right? Joe Sakic? 41 years old. You have to let him fist bump! Please?
It won’t really be that long until you are in your late 30s and there will be a bunch of 20 something who think they are too good for you while you don’t really feel any different than you do now. What then?
Fist-bumps fall under the same rules as the high-five. They are only to be done occasionally, and for a good reason. As Amp said, they’re not to be done willy-nilly. So age doesn’t matter. It’s the appropriateness of the timing and the frequency of the fist-bumps.
Wasn’t there a Seinfeld episode with an annoying guy who high-fived too much?
I would recommend preemptively striking in this situation. When he approaches with the intent of a fist bump, simply say “Gimme Five, up high!”. Raise your palm and take the five. Then say, “Down Low!”. When he goes for it, jerk your hand back and say “Too Slow!” while using your hand to swipe the hair on the side of your head and then walk off. It worked great in junior high for me at least.
I’m 35, and I will still fist bump if the right situation calls for it. Rarely is it a ‘fist bump’ though, becaues the bump is actually a variation on the ‘pound’ which is much more likely.
I am the kind of older woman that is still in love with youth culture, through hip-hop and other factors. So it is actually normal for me to do a ‘pound’. Now that I think about it, as many people (in urban or hiphop culture) do it as does the young people.
I wonder if your boss is immersed in hiphop culture, and therefore a fist bump comes naturally…
As an aside, I just want to say that there are certain things that black men do in particular that really turns me on. I love to see them shaving, tying on a tie, little things like that. But I love to see them greet eachother. They way they lean into the hug after ‘slapping eachother up’ is just great to watch. I realize that black culture doesn’t own pounds or anything…I just like to see black men do it for some reason.
I still gotta say, even with the advent of our President doing it, and other celebrities and what not, I still say there should be an age for it to be a cutoff, and since I never really said a specific age I would have to say…30.
At no point after 30 should you fist bump/pound. I will give exception to high fives, since they seem less annoying and less confined to a certain age group.
Ok, since I am assuming you are saying this out of experience, what “acts of a generation” (since I’m confining the fist bump to mine) have you had such a hard time giving up that I won’t be able to do the same?