No more air kissing

The perfunctory air-kiss has now been replaced by a half-hug, as awkward a gesture as any

Is it only me, or has anyone else noted that social kissing seems to have been consigned to the dustbin of history? It seems just the other day we would mwah!-mwah! our way through parties, and everyone from acquaintances to strangers was fair game — but no one offers you their cheek for an aerial peck any more. Having checked with hostesses who should know, I’m informed that it was the gauche arrivistes who sounded its death knell. Not knowing its proper etiquette, they ended up landing full-blown smackeroos when the whole point was to ensure that nobody’s faces actually