How often have you talked with another person who never looked you in the eye during the entire duration of the conversation? Or perhaps he did meet your gaze a few times but then his eyes shifted back to his shoes or to some point in the distance.

The ability to make good eye contact is one of the social skills a lot of people struggle with and it’s a multigenerational problem. Actually, it’s probably something men have always struggled with; females are, on average, better at making and holding eye contact than males.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis reportedly said on Times Talk “we looked [Air Malta] workers in the eye and told them that in some sectors [of the airline] there were too many employees”.

How on earth did he do that? Did he pan his eyes across the airline workers’ faces like a camera in cinemascope mode? Did the workers roll their eyes heavenwards and moan: “Not again.”