Tail end greetings

It's customary for people to shake hands here, but out in the
countryside it can be a hard gesture to accept. My colleague S told me
that years ago, after they'd completed a new water well in a small
village, an old woman came to show her gratitude and offered her hand to
shake. The only problem was that, out in the country they tend to use
dried cow patties as fuel and this woman had been collecting the fresh
pies and throwing them in a sack she was carrying on her back so, her
hand was covered in fresh bovine manure. S took advantage of being
Japanese and backed away to bow to her instead.