East Texas Man Protesting Handshaking

In the old days, warriors would shake hands to prove they were unarmed. Now, hand-shaking is just a friendly greeting. But one East Texas man says "no more." He's protesting handshakes.

Thursday morning, he stood outside the Smith County Courthouse with sign in hand to spread his message. And he says he's doing it all for you. Wolf Ray paces back and forth in front of the Smith County courthouse asking people what they think about his sign. "You think it's a great idea? Yeah I don't know how much it will happen," says one person Wolf approaches.

His sign urges people to "stop shaking hands." "We can make ourselves sick even bring on death from shaking hands," he explains.

Wolf says the physical greeting spreads diseases like the flu and staph and that's want he wants to stop. "I'm saying if a person came up and he sneezed and coughed in his hand and he reached out to me, I would say 'no, I wouldn't do this'...I would either go here or here," he demonstrates while touching knuckles and bumping elbows.
"I think it's a good idea, we have to be more and more cautious, there's germs floating around everywhere, this is the flu season no doubt," says passerby Dennis Dearion.

Med Team Dr. Ed Dominguez agrees Wolf's theory is logical but doesn't think it's all that practical. "I can't see doing that in a church for example but if that the way you're going to contact people, and everyone's into it that's fine, is it foolproof? I don't' think so, it hasn't shown to be foolproof," he explains.

The best bet against diseases, Dr. Ed says, wash your hands regularly. As for Wolf, there's no shaking his theory. He's hoping it will touch as many people as possible. [klvt]