So there I was, flopped on the bed in my pajamas and robe this morning while A. put on his tie*. I was trying to think what I would post about today. Mostly in jest, I asked A. if he had any ideas about what I should post. He said I should talk about my emotions. This was a joke. He knows that I don't do that, and I know that he would be horrified if I did. People 'round these parts are not given to emoting.
BUT. It did give me an idea for an Audience Participation Day topic, which of course is my fall-back when I don't know what the hell to post and I'm sitting blankly at the computer wondering why in God's name I feel driven to post every day. Who posts something every day? Who could POSSIBLY think up something interesting and entertaining every single day? Who does that to themselves--VOLUNTARILY?
Ahem. So, here's the topic for Audience Participation Day: Hugs.
I know! Fun! What I want to know, though, is if you're a hugger. Do you hug people when you haven't seen them in awhile? Do you hug people you're meeting for the first time? Or is the thought of hugging so horrifying to you that you don't even hug your own parents?
My mom hugs everyone. But then, she's Southern. They do that. A.'s family, true to the regional tradition around here, doesn't even hug each other. I fall in the middle--hugs only for those I know very well. Otherwise, I find it awkward and uncomfortable. Especially when you get in one of those situations where you go to shake hands and the other person swoops in to hug and you end up sort of patting them on the shoulder and half-hugging. AWKWARD.
But this isn't about me (HAHAHAHAHA--of course it is). Inquiring minds want to know: Where do you fall on the hug scale?
P.S. Hug is a really funny word if you read it enough times.
* I know how depressing it must be for him to see me lounging about while he puts on the trappings of his prison for another day of fantastically fun lawyering. Life sucks sometimes. Sorry, babe.
UPDATE: Today is Sara's birthday (and her twin sister, Miriam's, too). Sara was a co-worker at my last job. I should have known it's her birthday, but I am TERRIBLE at remembering birthdays. And now I feel doubly bad, because she remembered mine AND sent me a card. I suck. So please, if you will all go over to Sara's site, However Absurd, and wish her a happy birthday to make up for my suckiness, that'd be swell. Thanks.
19 comments:
I love and appreciate the fact that you post every day but I won't hug you for it. I'm in the south and people are indeed very huggy here but it makes me very uncomfortable.
Hugs - not,
Susan
I also fall in the middle: I hug some, not others. Kind of a weird combination of folks who get hugs, actually. I'm not a big fan of kissing people, so that get uncomfortable. You should give me a hug today for my birthday!
I have finally fallen into the groove of hugging our best friends when we see them.
Other than that? Um... must we?
I hug folks I have a fondness for, the ones who make my heart happy when I see them. But, I don't get out much,so I don't see them often either.
And a big thank you for posting every day..I, for one, appreciate your dedication to us. har har
Thanks really for doing it. Even if it is for you !
We could always use more lamb pictures... ;)
Do people who don't emote have emotions??? Why hold them in?
My husband hugs me, but, just about won't touch another person. He loves me to pieces ! Reading about your life every day makes us feel we know you , but we don't. But, we would like to be your friend. Just don't fling the woodchuck our direction. But,make sure you fling it !
I don't initiate hugging, and even though I think I am a considerate person and very helpful and mostly kind (heh), I am not into touching so much. Does that make me a terrible person?
mv
Now for a male perspective.
I'm not allowed to hug another man unless:
* We are wearing matching sporting uniforms and one of us has just done something that will make the highlight reel.
* We are both "I love you, man!" drunk, and even then it's the side-by-side one-armed hug.
* One of us has just rescued the other from falling off a cliff.
* ...
Actually I think that's the full list.
As for women, I can't hug them unless:
* I'm married to them.
* I sired them.
* Or they initiate it.
And when they initiate it, I'm obligated to lean forward at the waist for an upper-body-hug that avoids any potentially embarrassing groinal contact.
Hey, thanks, Kristin! Annoying thing: Right now, I can't get to my own blog at work! It happens every once in a while, and it may very well connect later on. Annoying all the same.
I am a hugger - obviously not of people I don't know, but definately for family (HI!) and friends.
Moi
I'm a trained hugger. Let me explain.
Left to my own devices, I would only hug my husband and kids. But I work in profession that's very, shall we say, congenial? And I have a lot of clients who hug me (so I have to hug back) every time they see me.
So it's weird. I hug at the drop of the hat when it's my closest family or vast network of clients, and I don't hug anyone in between (like cousins or personal friends).
My in-laws and the resulting extended family and friends are big on hugging, as in hugging EVERY person at EVERY family function, which is just about every weekend. I married into an enormous Italian family that are all still here in the Bay Area, so I've gotten used to it, and now I like it. But I won't hug someone if they don't hug me first.
i hate hugging! hated hugging my family to say goodbye as a kid... just not that into it... even my hugging my own kids but they force me into hugging them so i'm slowly getting better (i think they like to watch me squirm)but oh! do i hate the kissing cheeks thing... hate it and my mil is big on it. but i tell them i love them even my mil all the time... is that strange?
I'll hug family and a few close friends. I don't do the kissy thing. I hate the kissy thing. Why does my husband do it, with everyone, even people he has just met? Yuck.
Am NOT a hugger with grown-ups or friends at first. Sometimes I screw up the intro hug and jam jaws or shoulders or something. Am a handshaker. A solid hand shaker and later, when you leave, I will hug the squeeze out of you. I work up to the hug.
I hug everyone. Ok, not people I don't like, but mostly everyone.
It must be the CA hippie in me. If I've just met you and we are parting ways, I will hug you. If I haven't seen you in a week and we usually talk every day, I will hug you. If you're the dog and you come running to the door when I get home, I will hug you.
And, if you're my Pilates instructor and I'm not going to see you for two months, I will hug you after class while I'm wearing my sweaty workout clothes because I'm *that way*.
Consider yourself warned, in case we ever meet.
I saw a Woodchuck Cider pint glass today and thought of you.
I hug people if I have to.
I once hugged my MiL while visiting her in the hospital. I was thinking I was glad she was alive. She was thinking "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"
Hate it! I only hug my mom and dad and sisters and only if I'm not going to see them for a few months or I have not seen them for a few months.
I had a co-worker that would try and hug me each morning. I told her to knock it off. She then tried to hug me at a store when she saw me. She was a hugger.
I'm a sometime hugger and kisser. I have certain people that i hug and kiss. The kiss is either on the cheek or on the lips depending on who it is.
Others i just hug (2 kinds), if i really like them they get a full body hug, if i kinda like them they get the shoulder hug.
Hah! Tami, I just had this mental image of me going for a shoulder hug, you going for a full body hug, and you accidentally judo throw me to the ground.
I hug when it's required and usually then only when the other person initiates it. Other than immediate family I tend to avoid all physical contact.
I am not a touchy feely person.
It drives my husband crazy because I don't even like cuddling with him.
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