October 22, 2008

• AwkwardRule #2: To hug or not to hug?

  I haven’t been blogging here much lately, partly because Jeff and I are busy with our startup. However, it’s also because I started a new blog: AwkwardRules.net, the purpose of which is to figure out the rules for dealing with awkward situations. I’ll probably cross post a few rules here, but you can also subscribe to the RSS feed.

  And here is the latest post:

  The situation:

  You’re
  meeting a close friend of the opposite sex* at a bar, and when you get
  there you see that they’ve brought their friend (also of the opposite
  sex) that you’ve met once or twice. You give your close friend a hug,
  but then what about the other person? Do they feel left out if you
  don’t give them a hug? You can’t really go with a handshake because
  you’ve met them already, but you don’t know them that well so does it
  really make sense to hug them?

  I propose Awkward Rule #2 to prevent this dilemma:

  When
  greeting or saying goodbye to a person of the opposite sex* who is not
  a close friend, it is required to give them a hug if you have no
  animosity toward them and:

  1. You have met them at least 3 times.
  2. You
     have spent more that 3 total hours in their presence. Being at the same
     event does not count, you must have been within conversation range for
     3 hours.

  If the person is not huggable under this rule, simply give them a small “hey” wave. See figure 2 below for further explanation.

  Figure 2a.
  

  
  

  Here’s a simple phrase to help you remember this rule: Less than 3, let them be. 3 or more, hug their core.

  Rule
  #2 only applies in the USA and to acquaintances/friends of the opposite
  sex. It does not apply to cases like first dates or intra-girl hugging
  because the extensive research required to write a rule for these
  situations hasn’t been completed yet.

  For a discussion of actual hug mechanics go here: http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/73/

  * for
  the purposes of this rule, opposite sex is defined as the gender you
  like to have sex with, be it male, female, both, or miscellaneous

  • 4:56 am
  • 3 Comments