Making Hugs Un-Awkward

Recently, my friends and I were discussing hugs, and, more specifically, how awkward they can be. If you never experienced an awkward hug, it’s either because you’ve been blessed with amazingly good luck or because you never went to middle school. Everything about middle school is a recipe for awkward hugs- with all those young teenage boys and girls trying to flirt with each other but not sure how, awkwardness is bound to ensue. The best one I ever experienced? A good friend came in for a hug and missed. He was hugging MY ARM. Yep. And he didn’t correct it or even LOOK embarrassed. Just hugged my arm and went along his merry way. But I guess I should be easier on the kid. I mean, it was only eighth grade for crying out loud, and heaven knows teens have enough to worry about without stressing over hugs. But still, my arm? That’s just… well… awkward.

Yes, middle school, at least for me, was full of awkward hugs. Sadly, they don’t stop after middle school. There will always be the times you feel socially pressured to hug someone you don’t know that well (family reunions, anyone?), or even just don’t like. And of course, there will always be hug bloopers, where the huggers hit each other in the face or snag jewelry on the others clothing. Or as a couple of my guy friends joked, hugging other guys can be weird sometimes. I won't expound on that because being a girl, I don’t have the experience to relate. However, one of my good buddies showed me an awesome clip that helped him to clear up his hug confusion:

Well there you have it! How to give the perfect man hug. Actually, some of those tips could totally apply to all hugs in general, not just guy hugs. Sweet! I wish someone would've shown this to my buddy in the eighth grade. Maybe it would have saved him the fate of being the inspiration for this cautionary hug tale. I quote the adage, "It's only awkward if you make it awkward." Well, he made it awkward. I still laugh about it.