How can you avoid getting electric shock by touching non electric items or people?

Usually this sort of shock is from static electricity. The easy way to avoid getting the shock is to simply not have the electric spark touch your skin. If you have a jacket that makes sparks jump off your skin after taking it off, or anything that like - then just hold some piece of metal, like a screw or a pin, and touch it to a grounded metallic surface like a doorknob or a metal table. You'll probably see a spark jump across, but it you won't feel it, because it's not in contact with any of your nerves.

This won't work 100% of the time, but it helps most of the time.