I was thinking about the hug policy the other day. Everyone has their own hug policy, you know. Some people hug everybody, some hug nobody, and there's a rainbow in between.
My hug policy is kinda complicated thanks to constant amendment. There have been times when I've hugged everybody I met and other times when any touch at all was unbearable. Lately I've just been winging it, not even giving it any thought, but when the subject came up out in the smoking area recently, I started giving it some thought again.
Generally, if I know the person and like them, and they reach for me first, I hug them. I generally always want to hug people I know and like, but other people's hug policies can be complicated too, and it can involve factors like alcohol consumption and setting as well. I don't want to make someone uncomfortable by trying to hug them when they'd rather not. This is the single most complicating factor to the hug policy - not wanting to make people uncomfortable.
Therefore, I seldom initiate a hug, unless it's somebody I'm sexually involved with, in which case there's already a general familiarity with what's comfortable for them and what's not.
I do generally want to hug people I know and like, although it can get weird if there's some unrequited lust there. Another complication.
Setting and alcohol level don't play much of a role in it for me, although sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable about hugging in front of people at work whom I don't trust - i.e. most supervisors and department heads. I also feel uncomfortable hugging friends in the presence of other friends who don't get along with the previously mentioned friends. I try to overcome that discomfort, though, because a little hug just might improve the ambient mood. Hopefully.
I don't like it when people I don't know try to hug me. I don't like it when people I don't like try to hug me. I also don't like to reach out and be rebuffed.
I guess all of that is to say, if I know you and I like you, you can come hug me if you like.
