How to Hug: Learning from Failure

This week, a very short friend gave me a hug.  In an effort to reach my height, she jumped a little, and what I got was a shoulder punch to the throat.  My larynx hurt for the next two hours.

It made me think about hugs, though -- why we give them, what they mean, and -- on that particular night of hug pain -- how we give them.  I conducted an informal survey of five people, including myself, and decided some things.  That is, these are the rules for hugging people with obvious height differences:

1. Short people:  Stay put.  Keep your feet on the ground.  You can reach up by extending your neck and raising your chin, but that's pretty much all you can do.  Alternatively, you can turn your head to the side and just admit that you're too short to reach the other person's shoulder.  In this case, you have to do the head-resting-on-chest thing.  (Note:  This is only appropriate if you are a short girl hugging a tall man.)
2. Tall people:  It is your responsibility to lean down to the short person.  Sometimes it's awkward, but . . . with great power comes great responsibility?

Simply put, short people should stay on the ground; tall people should bend down.  Jumping should never be involved.  Ever.


Thing I'm thankful for: a bright and quiet Saturday afternoon for doing homework