Hugs

This is my 200th entry on this blog. Exciting.

Tonight, I was told that people assumed I would not like to be hugged, so let me quickly address that here on my blog, the official source of all things Wysz. I like hugs. They feel good. My grandfather wrote a poem about hugs, but unfortunately I don’t have a copy of it with me to share. I do not mind being hugged.

I think that there are two things that may have caused people to assume that I do not like hugs:

1. I tend not to initiate hugs, since I don’t want to risk hugging someone who does not want to be hugged.
2. I’ve probably mentioned that I think some people hug too soon/often.

The first thing I can’t do much about. It’s just the way I am, overly cautious. But as for the second one, allow me to explain myself. Some people are overly huggy. It’s not that they hug certain people too much; it’s that they hug too many people too soon. I’ll illustrate with a few examples as guidelines for how I feel, but keep in mind that these are not explicit rules. An overly huggy person may hug in any of these situations. I’ll let you know for which ones I would feel comfortable with a hug:

Meeting someone for the first time.
I would prefer not to.

Greeting a friend who I haven’t seen in a while
Bring it on.

Greeting a non-friend acquaintance (coworker, teacher, store clerk, friend of friend, friend of parent, etc.)
I’d really rather not. But this rule no longer applies if I consider the person to be a friend.

Saying goodbye to a friend who I won’t see for a while
Let’s hug it out.

Anytime with a really good friend or family member
Sounds good to me.