Life / Showing respect and appreciation by Polish people, forms of greetings in Poland. [31]

I am an Englishman, over 65, who stumbled on this thread when looking up Polish customs. Traditional Polish courtesies seem not so far removed from traditional English courtesies. In general it is a courtesy to defer to the expectations of the other person. The tradition of kissing a lady's hand is, of course, unusual nowadays; it is not "disgusting" if done properly. The initiative should be with the woman. The man should only kiss a woman's hand if it is offered, the woman of such a tradition might then be offended if a kiss was refused. The "kiss" should merely be a dry or air kiss. It is similar to the courtesy kiss some women expect on their cheek. For the traditional kissing of the hand that may be given to a high ranking person as a pledge of duty, the woman would normally be wearing gloves.