I am currently working at a hospital in a non-medical related position.  It’s very odd at first being in such a place when you don’t really need to be there.  Not necessarily a fraud, but certainly out of place feeling quite well!  As for the sick people, well there are loads of them cluttering up the place and making it look all untidy..

One thing that struck me walking through the corridors today was the amount of people that are holding hands.  The sight of it tugs your heart strings to be honest.  You can see by people’s expressions that something is not quite right; yes, I know it doesn’t take a bloody genius to work out being where I am that the odds are high. What adds to the impact of the moment is the holding of the hands. It’s like looking into a very private moment of two people for a fleeting moment.  I was going to write, ‘this display of affection,’ however, it is not a display at all, it is a connection between two people using a very clever part of their body.

Chimpanzees are our closest living relative in the animal kingdom. No matter whether you are a big-bang or a god-made-the-world type of person, you cannot deny the resemblance is more than coincidence. In fact it is not just the appearance, it is the manner in which their family groups operate too.  There is a huge amount of hand holding for comfort and connection.  Apart from catching fleas and throwing excrement, chimps behave very much like humans.  Just to sit and hold hands is very powerful when in a larger group.

I am usually 10 degrees warmer than missy, which makes my hands a good place to be when cold.  It’s the fact you can communicate so well without words when hand in hand.  A small squeeze, and one back to say, “I’m okay,” replaces a dozen words. A long squeeze that says, “I love you and I don’t want to let go,” replaces a hundred kisses. And that sliding of the fingers between others that says. “I really want to fuck you, but we are at Great Aunt Maud’s funeral and it would be bad if we were caught round the back of the crematorium rutting against the warm brick wall.’ Or words to that effect.

So when I see people at the hospital holding hands I smile. I know the type of silent communication that is going on deep down and it gives me comfort that the world may be a bad place sometimes, but it is always much better when someone takes your hand without warning; unless you’re in Saudi Arabia or Game of Thrones.