To go in for the second kiss, or not. That is the question.

So sexy actor left after a new record. CD and Senior Creative got handshakes, lucky Producer got a double kiss which she found slightly embarrassing. And that got us all into a discussion about the problem of saying goodbye.

Once upon a time the British were all about the formal handshake. People knew where they were in those days. Men shook hands, and kissed ladies gloves, if not there was a lot of bowing or nodding or doffing one's hat. These days it's not so simple. We have come over all French - one kiss, two kisses, a kiss and a hug - it's all to play for. And this uncertainty means that we regularly have moments of awkwardness when someone goes to kiss left the other goes to kiss on the right and, oh dear, they accidently snog, or someone kisses someone's earhole or heads are banged together. I tend to do a bewildered dithering where I change my mind about which cheek to kiss in quick succession making people think I'm having a funny turn.

Senior Creative said that he had an embarrassing moment when a woman he had known through his sports team only 2 weeks went in for the kiss and actually talked him though the moment "and now we'll kiss again on the other cheek" as if he were an idiot.

The other problem with the cheek kissing phenomenon is what kind of kiss - is it a loudly said theatrical "mwaa mwaaa"? Is it a kiss in air that sounds like a real kiss? Is it an actual kiss of the person's cheek (spare Aunties and drooling Grandmas go for this one I've noticed). Or is it simply a case of resting your cheek against the other person's for a second and making no pretence of anything to do with the lips? Or there's always the option that Amanda and Myleen have gone for in the above picture - the "I actually hate you and think you're a germ ridden syphilitic crack whore" kiss where you kiss the as far away from the other person as possible - so much so that you end up in different time zones. And should different kisses be reserved for different occasions?

What we really need is a set of rules laid out in a handy pocket book which can be taught in schools and then carried around for moments where you panic and end up French kissing your friend's new boyfriend.