As the timid son of an ardently community-active army marshal, this piece of advice has been imparted to me with inescapable persistence. Fatherly, at the beginning, but with growing condescension as the years went by.
It just won't stick. Why? Because I'm impatient.
The two gestures in question, in conjunction, represent a commitment in groundedness between two people, an acknowledgement of boundaries, and a promise of mutual deference. In short, role-play.
This establishes the rules of the game which, despite restricting the players, ensure a steady progression through a shared and known playing-field.
Unfortunately I never had the social composure to tolerate such a dance: I find myself probing and twisting my stick right away, hoping to trouble the waters just enough to catch a twitch under the mud.
This is obviously an invitation for my interlocutor to do the same, but not always it's received as such.
This doesn't mean I'm impolite, on the contrary, I'm sure your grandma would love me.
"That's a long-winded way to say you're bad with introductions!"
Probably! But not just that. It's also a quick way to find some other water-troublers, and man, is Steemit good for that.
A huge thanks to @kadavy for introducing me to the platform. He's a gifted writer and thinker, and you should check out his work if you haven't already.
Anyway, enough faffing around.
My name is Calo Amico, and I'm an Italian writer and content developer based in Bristol, UK.
I'm the founder of Writ In Dust, a platform devoted to the written word in all of its forms.
There I'd like to host and produce all sorts of content related to all sorts of media.
I want to create something with this community, bringing back in vogue a deeply rewarding form of expression that's been overshadowed by more easily digestible and eye-catching ones.
I truly believe the two can work in tandem; writing can survive and proliferate within the current entertainment landscape.
Let's spill some ink together!