Why hug?
That's fairly recent, the whole hugging thing, when I was younger (and mammoths roamed the earth, I know, I know) you offered your hand and the stranger or acquaintance shook it and jolly good show what what. Now I'm introduced to a stranger or meet an acquaintance and somewhat to my alarm they close in for kisses (praises be I am in Spain, 2 kisses, and not France, 3 or more) or a hug. What? I barely know you! Even men meeting men do the half-hug / backslap thing here, and it was becoming increasingly common in Scotland before I left. Is it international now? I need a teddybear to handle my social hugs for me.
Don't get me wrong, I love real hugging. I would change my profile to say 'I could hug you so hard all your broken bits will join up forever' except that I get enough odd mail as it is already.
but here's the other odd thing - the hug, it seems, is only for acquaintances now. When you know each other better, see each other often - no more hugging. Now that's just wrong. Them's the people I WANT to hug and cuddle and pat and scrunch just because I am so very pleased to see them, or when we are parting to tide me over to the next time I see them. 
Comments (85)
But friends yes.
Some people are natural huggers, some not. And some are better huggers than others too.
Molly
How do I find out?
just kiss. easy. ...oh no, "islanders" and the "puritans views of kissing
Bonjour
So get comfortable with that hugging; babe!
.....not my style, i save it for those whom i'm close with and only if i feel like it.
And I want to shoot that sycophantic teddy bear.
I envy men's handshakes. There is strength, gentleness, power and warmth in the way men shake hands with each other.
I was on a train once going to a university campus and all the young Muslim women students getting on at each stop all shook hands with each other going down the train. It was lovely to watch the warmth and respect they had for each other. They weren't insular, either. I had several hellos as I sat there grinning at their elegant conduct and an offer of some dates for breakfast. Naww.
British women aren't generally very skilled at handshaking, which I find disappointing. We don't really get to practice the art.
With my close friends it's more like a spiritual hug...lasting longer...
If someone tries to hug me , I put my hand out to shake
So you're not a daily hugger, what a disappointment
Awkward hug?
However I will ask around and see if I can find volunteers to help me practice until I get it right.
Some like it...some love it...some are taken aback and feeling awkward but...at the end of the day ...it becomes contagious!
I like handshakes too, I grew up with them and prefer them. You learn such a lot so very quickly about a person, too, from the mangler through to the offered vrot banana, the damp squidgy one to the stick-dry cool impersonal tug. I miss that quick skin-on-skin contact filled with more clues in it than a dog's sniff but I have before now offered my hand and found it pressed into their oncoming stomach
I think you're the hugging type.
Interesting how many hand-shakers are appearing in what I had begun to think was a world of huggers!