The Half-Assed Hug

I posted this on my MySpace site a while ago and for some reason I never got around to posting it here. I always intended to, though. Enjoy!



Everyone in my family will agree with the fact that I'm a hugger. Hugs make me happy. If you ask my mom (and probably my husband), I can actually be somewhat of a cling-on at times. Actually, if you ask my sister, she will probably roll her eyes and smile in agreement, too. This is how I've always been. I have always liked touch and I've always been very affectionate. I'm not exactly sure why I'm like that. My sister was, and still is to a certain degree, the opposite. We were both loved and held just the same by our parents when we were little. Affection was always present in our household.

Because I'm like this, I have always felt awkward when someone goes to give me a hug and it ends up being half-assed. Every single time I ask myself why the person even bothers. It feels so empty and yet so forced. Do people feel obligated? Believe me, I feel no obligation to hug people, but if you're going to go for it, do it right. Act like you mean it. Nobody will ever receive a hug from me that isn't firm. When I give a hug, I mean business.

I was at a party recently where there were a lot of people that I didn't know. Most of them I had never met before. Yet most of these people were kind enough to give me a hug when saying hello. I got all different types of hugs...strong hugs, the "I'll lightly tap your shoulder blades" hug and the "I'll put my arm around you but try not to let it touch you" hugs. It was interesting. These people felt confident enough to get that close to me, yet some of them acted like they didn't want to touch me.

My point is, if you're going to give a hug to someone, give a real hug. They won't bite and they don't have cooties.

You may just make someone's day.