Photo illustration by Peter Caty/The Mirror
It was probably one of the first things that you did when you got back on campus after break.
Before unpacking, before attempting the paper you put off all break, possibly even before you took your shoes off. Most likely you don’t even remember it. It’s become so common among our culture that it seems just a daily routine. You most likely stepped out of the campus shuttle, a Fairfield Cab, or your own car, and hugged another student. Because somehow for us, hugging means “hello.”
We hug each other so much that we’ve even broken it down into types. Good hugs, bear hugs, awkward hugs, bad hugs. A good hug can cheer you up, or an awkward one can certainly give you a good laugh.
But what’s the deal with all this hugging? Is it normal? When did it start?
For me, it began the moment I walked through the doors of my all-girls high school where the hugging and touchiness of our small community was a little disturbing to outsiders. You had a problem? Hug. Haven’t seen someone in two periods? Hug. The hugs were everywhere. Our all-boys brother school used to make jokes about how touchy we were with one another. But it wasn’t like the hugs meant anything, it was just how our community worked.
So I was happy when last week a New York Times article informed me that the hugging is pretty normal. Hugging seems to be a nationwide teenage occurrence. It’s not just my high school, or Fairfield – our entire generation is touchy-feely. Our parent’s handshakes are just too formal for us, and have been replaced by embracing.
Another suspicion on why we hug so much is our lack of physical communication — just another way of blaming Facebook for everything that we do wrong. But we crave the physical interaction that we lack from texting and Facebook, so we receive it in a hug. Too much psychology for me. I think the world has gotten to be a tough place since my father decided he was going to shakes another’s hand, we need to hug it out.
But when does it get to be too much? Some high schools have banned hugging in the halls because its too much physical contact. I know that rule would have just been a downright fail with my all girls high school, and I feel it is a little extreme even for a coed school.
My friend once went to a Catholic conference where only “side hugs” were allowed because of the touching that occurs in hugs. I don’t really see the threat of a hug. We hug our parents and our cousins and it’s not that a hug means anything. The meaning of a hug has definitely adjusted in our generation, but apparently our adult counterparts haven’t gotten the memo.
And what about the non huggers? You all know who you are. You escape it whenever you can. Is it just too much? I really can’t say much from this point of view, but I can see it.
You didn’t come from my background, and hugs are still kind of personal for you. I understand, but as a message from huggers, we don’t mean to offend you buy anything.
So sure, keep hugging. Just make sure whoever you are hugging knows what you mean by it.
Leave a Reply