The Art of the Hug

You know, there's a real art to hugging. There's the "faux hug"--the one where you really don't want to hug the other person, but it's the polite thing to do. There's the "pull and pat" that women do when you give a nice hug but no body parts touch. There's the "full body" where you hold the person close and most body parts touch--this is a person you really like. There's the "death squeeze" where a person hugs you tight and keeps holding tight--you release, but they don't. This can go on for what seems like several minutes. There's the "sidewinder"--usually done between a man and woman when frontal hugs are inappropriate. There's the awkward "hesitator"--the one where you start to hug, then pull back because the other person seems like they're not going to hug you, then you both go in for the hug--who goes right and who goes left?. Then, of course, "the man hug"--the one guys do where they clasp the other guys opposite hand, pull together and slap the back--for cool guys only. Hug tip: the amount of pressure applied in the hug is also dependent on your fondness for the person, the more pressure applied, the more you like them.

Personally, I love hugs. Hugging is wonderful. Sometimes you want to hug so much it's inappropriate. I might be a hug addict.