Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’

I posted something recently on Facebook (yes, I still use it…sparingly.  I’ve discovered that there’s a real world out there with flesh-and-blood people whom I may actually like better.) featuring the misanthropic adventures of my new spirit animal, Rat, from the Pearls Before Swine comic strip.  This strip questions whether or not we are ready to resume normal activities, post Covid, such as shaking hands.

A friend (who qualifies as “real life” and Facebook friend) responding by essentially saying, ‘Screw the handshakes…I need hugs’.  This is where Rat and I may differ.  I need hugs.

And I’m not alone.  Studies have shown that hugs may reduce stress by calming our sympathetic nervous system, as well as make us feel safe, loved, and maybe most of all…connected.

I get it: not everyone’s a hugger.  Covid or otherwise, strangers on the subway don’t appreciate hugs.  Don’t ask me how I know this.

But as we start to emerge from our quarantined ways, there are some behaviors that need to be re-evaluated.  The simple hug needs to be considered.

I don’t just make this stuff up (contrary to popular belief).  According to an article in the New York Times, a researcher created an on-demand squeeze machine to determine the importance of a hug:

“Alexis Block was worried that the robot she’d built was malfunctioning. She was testing the optimal hug duration for her “HuggieBot 1.0,” a purple-furred, on-demand squeeze machine. Ms. Block had built pressure sensors into the machine’s torso, so if the human tester tapped or squeezed the robot on the back, it let go. But this hug was going on and on. “I worried that the pressure sensors were malfunctioning,” she said.

“Her palms began to sweat (getting stuck in the clutches of a giant robot is no one’s idea of a good time). But then, the hug ended, and the HuggieBot released its test subject. When Ms. Block, who is working toward her Ph.D. at the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems in both Stuttgart, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland, asked the subject if something had gone wrong, he surprised her by explaining that he had wanted the hug to last a long time. “He said, ‘I just needed it, and the robot wasn’t going to judge me.’”.

I’m there.  There is something less than gratifying about fist-bumping my parents or my kids (the Trophy Wife has been vaccinated so she seems hug-worthy).  One of the highlights of the dozens of trade shows I’d annually do was getting to greet old friends with heartfelt hugs.  Ceremonial bowing just doesn’t cut it.

Believe me…I’m glad to see that trade shows have begun to ramp up again.  Who know…I may even attend one or two.  But will I go in for the hug?  Will you? 

Not going to a show?  Spending your day dealing with difficult customers looking for this year’s fidget spinner (yes, I know the fidget spinner was the hot promo item of several years ago…never to be heard of again...but I relish the imagery of warehouses still full of those stupid things and feel the need to keep reminding you to not jump onto a fad), don’t you just want to go hug the dog or some other loved one at home (I make no recommendations)?  Trust me…the dog won’t mind.  All the more reason to not have fish as pets.

Look…the recovery…the return to normalcy…has to begin somewhere.  Business is ramping up again, and I pleased to see a lot of promo peeps preparing for the holiday gifting season.  Maybe being cooped up in home offices has run its course.  I certainly hope so.  I’m ready.  And I’m ready for that hug.

As Mr. Springsteen so eloquently put it:

You might need somethin' to hold on to
When all the answers, they don't amount to much
Somebody that you could just to talk to
And a little of that human touch

You know where to find me.