Why don't we point?

[jasonf6]

Man, I wish the worst thing they did was point at me during my basic years and years ago.  Much better than barrack box punishment or going 'round the smoking area on your hands and knees picking weeds up all the while mooing like cows.

 

[Hammer Sandwich]

Oh...screw it....Im'a just point like this from now on;

 

[brihard]

Oh...screw it....Im'a just point like this from now on;

I've seen a weird variation where the index finger is curled into the thumb, the second, middle, and little finger extended fully. Bizarre.

I find yours simply shocking though.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Man, I wish the worst thing they did was point at me during my basic years and years ago.  Much better than barrack box punishment or going 'round the smoking area on your hands and knees picking weeds up all the while mooing like cows.

Darn, nw you've gone and made me all nostalgic about the suff we used to do to recruits to build character. Snif... :'(

 

[medicineman]

I always remember this Brit math teacher I had in Grade 10 (the first time around) - he always pointed with his middle finger, which alot of us found funny, unless it was being directed at ourselves, when it wasn't anymore...took him the whole year he was on exchange to figure that out.  It could very well be a manners thing...having one finger pointed directly at you in our culture is considered kind of threatening and rude, escpecially if coupled with a "Wake the (add your own series of colourful expletives) up you (add again) dummy"...we are supposed to be a kinder gentler bunch now  ;D.  An open hand shows there is nothing threatening in it and still gets the "point" across that said person indicated is being  singled out.

:2c:

MM

 

[Robert0288]

I've seen a weird variation where the index finger is curled into the thumb, the second, middle, and little finger extended fully. Bizarre.

The 3 fingered point?  Yes that one is definitely special.

The full open hand is probably easier to see from the perspective of the spectators - as a standard it would work in a small town rink or for an NHL game.  Could this be it?

I don't think so as you use a full arm arm extension so that it is parallel to the ice.  I think I'm going to agree with Brihard on this one.  This is the way its always been done, therefore you shall do it as well.

My course staff did the one finger point once.  As the MCpl was walking past about 10m out, he suddenly stopped in front of me and turned.  Arm raised slowly, and pointing at me.  Then he slowly advanced one step at a time over the course of 20 seconds.  Needless to say, that MCpl was extremely good at finding faults and communicating them to us.

Tangent to random stuff.  After consultation with the PAM the staff found that the only way to scare away the kit monster was to run around the shacks with rifles over our heads yelling.. stuff.  Good times.

 

[jasonf6]

Darn, nw you've gone and made me all nostalgic about the suff we used to do to recruits to build character. Snif... :'(

Hehe, the best part was having a MBdr sitting in the instuctor's office, window open, yelling at us the whole time.  And he wasn't even with my course.

 

[Swingline1984]

Is pointing not considered an insult in some areas of the middle east?  I know as part of a deployment brief we were told to indicate with the full hand vice pointing with a single digit.  We were told this along with never point the bottom of your foot at someone.

 

[jasonf6]

Is pointing not considered an insult in some areas of the middle east?  I know as part of a deployment brief we were told to indicate with the full hand vice pointing with a single digit.  We were told this along with never point the bottom of your foot at someone.

It may be but we aren't in the middle east.

And yes, showing the bottom of your foot in that area, and others I'm sure, is very insulting.

 

[Hammer Sandwich]

I find yours simply shocking though.

Well played, sir.....

 

[Swingline1984]

It may be but we aren't in the middle east.

rly:  Reeaallllly?

 

[dimsum]

Pointing is considered an insult not just in the ME.  It's the same (probably not with the same....reaction) in parts of Asia, especially Japan.  When we were visited by a detachment from the JMSDF, part of our host briefings were specifically to "point" using an open hand.

Of course, those same briefings told us that Smoked Salmon was a prized gift when the local sushi chef (recently-ish moved from Japan) started belly-laughing when I asked if it was still the case.  :facepalm:

 

[Maxadia]

It's a non-agressive gesture.  Pointing with one finger is singling you out as someone who has done something stupid, whereas one full hand is more like "explaining" the situation to you instead of blaming.

Kind of like using the right or left side to defuse an agressive situation with your hands up.  Leaning left says "whoa, whoa...let's all calm down"......while leaning in with the right says "Okay now, look here, if you DON'T calm down..."

 

[Colin Parkinson]

You should try the finger pointing gesture used in the Phillipines for a change. If nothing else, you'll get extra marks for seeming 'worldly', if not downright friendly....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZdCxMafdFg

In Malaysia you point with a loose fist with the thumb on top aligned with the item/person being pointed at, the thumb should not extend beyond the knurlled up knuckles.

 

[jasonf6]

rly:  Reeaallllly?

I know it was stating the obvious but I don't see why we need to worry about what someone does in another part of the world here.  If pointing at someone insults them because they are from a part of the world where it's a massive insult to their honor so what, we aren't there right now but they are here. 

My point is that no matter where you go something that you consider a non-issue may send someone into a speed-wobble somewhere else.  If we walk around praying that the next thing we do or say doesn't land us in front of the H.R.C. it's going to suck.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I know it was stating the obvious but I don't see why we need to worry about what someone does in another part of the world here.  If pointing at someone insults them because they are from a part of the world where it's a massive insult to their honor so what, we aren't there right now but they are here. 

My point is that no matter where you go something that you consider a non-issue may send someone into a speed-wobble somewhere else.  If we walk around praying that the next thing we do or say doesn't land us in front of the H.R.C. it's going to suck.

My wife does some cashier work. Her right hand is on the cash register. She scans the products with her left. There are some customers that absolutely lose their minds when she hands them their change with her left hand. They will drop the change and refuse to pick it up.

At least until she starts the conveyor and it starts going away.


edit - grammar

 

[Swingline1984]

I know it was stating the obvious but I don't see why we need to worry about what someone does in another part of the world here.  If pointing at someone insults them because they are from a part of the world where it's a massive insult to their honor so what, we aren't there right now but they are here. 

My point is that no matter where you go something that you consider a non-issue may send someone into a speed-wobble somewhere else.  If we walk around praying that the next thing we do or say doesn't land us in front of the H.R.C. it's going to suck.

"My point" (no, not the one on top of my head) was simply that some may have started teaching the full hand indication vice finger point as it was taught for the last 10 years on pre-deployment training.

 

[Swingline1984]

My wife does some cashier work. Her right hand is on the cash register. She scans the products with her left. There are some customers that absolutely lose their minds when she hands them their change with her left hand. They will drop the change and refuse to pick it up.

At least until she starts the conveyor it it starts going away.

A strategically placed tip bucket ought to solve that problem 

 

[cupper]

Pointing with an open hand does have an advantage in that you can transition to a dope slap upside the head without them even seeing it coming. ;D

 

[Fishbone Jones]

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