Baby Hugs (Bear)

I'm going to state this right up front, I am not opposed to hugging.

I don't come from an overly touchy feely family, we're not big huggers. I do hug friends, especially when I won't or haven't seen them in a long time but I don't usually hug them on a daily basis. I have no problem with doing so it just doesn't occur to me. Since moving here I've realized that its a really huggy place, most people hug and kiss everytime they see one another and everytime they leave one another. I haven't really been doing this, there are a few of my closer friends that I do, but they initiate them and I have now become used to it. But if they don't initiate them I don't. I have had several people actually comment on this to me. I don't mean to be mean, yeah horrible English sorry, but I just don't think about it. One friend always asks don't I get a hug, ever time I see him, a few times I have just hugged him without him asking and he was shocked, saying I didn't even need to ask.

I don't know if it is a cultural thing or just a me thing. Either way I can't just start hugging the people that I haven't been can I? Even last night my roommate made some comment that I never hug him, but I can't be hugging him everytime I or he leaves the house or come home, that we just get a little out of hand I think. So is there rules to this whole hugging thing, because if there are I sure haven't figured them out yet. Here's a few that I think I need to iron out before anything else...

How well do you need to know someone before the hugging begins? So far in my experience if you talk to someone for about 30 minutes or more on first meeting they will hug you goodbye, and sometimes the huggings continue on next meeting sometimes they don't. But there are other people that I know much better and have never hugged, so there is definitely no 30 minute rule and the second meeting hug still has me baffled.

If your leaving somewhere but are coming back do you hug everyone goodbye, and if you do, do you hug them hello again? This I just stay away from if I leave and am planning to return I don't hug but many do, so is there a certain amount of time you have to be gone for before you hug, fuck knows!

The double kiss with the hug. Recently (over the past few weeks) I have been getting a lot more of the double kiss with my hugs, I don't know why this sudden increase in kissing, do I just look sad and lonely and that's why people have been kissing me or maybe I'm just so hot people can't resist anymore. Well that's a bit of a pipe dream, because the increased kissing is not just from the lesbians and straight guys but also from the gay guys and straight girls so I guess I just look lonely and sad. But I never know if I should go in for the kiss or not, so I usually let the other person lead but this has resulted in a few awkward moments for me. Which will not be reiterated here, because we all know that I have the ability to embarrass myself extremely well so recording such moments is probably not necessary.

If anyone knows the proper hugging etiquette please let me know, you may in fact safe me from several awkward situations and maybe even a head butt or two.

December 1 was world Aids day, since I didn't blog thought it still decieved a mention....