A while back, I stumbled upon a Facebook event for a Free Hugs Day. My immediate response was to click "attending" and take full advantage of hugging my friends that day.
For my group of friends, however, hugging is nothing new. The group of people I hung out with in high school used hugs as greetings, to say good-bye, and pretty much whenever we felt it was needed.
This past week, while discussing social norms in my marketing class (of course, this concept doesn't click until the fifth time I studied norms), I realized that my friends and I break a social norm with our friendship ritual. Members of our group come up against this norm all the time. If one group member brings a new person to the group, when it's time to say our good-byes, the ingroup members stand about awkwardly, wondering if they should hug the new person or not. After all, we don't want to scare anyone away.
In fact, one night last summer, I went for a walk with a friend from my high school group and another friend I had known since first grade. At the end of the walk, I said good-bye to the grade school friend and hugged the high school friend and left it at that. I thought about hugging the grade school friend too, but I figured I didnt have that type of relationship with that friend at the time. Months later, the grade school friend recounted the story of that night to me, telling me he or she had wanted a hug too (but was too shy to ask for one).
Out of fear of breaking a social norm, I left out a friend.
Juan Mann of Sydney, Australia is on a mission to make sure nobody is left out.
Mann started a free hugs campaign in 2004 to help others to feel loved and supported. The campaign has a random acts of kindness philosophy and offers hugs to total strangers on public streets.
Although Juan Mann has come up against some legal and social obstacles, the campaign lives on and has since spread around the globe thanks to the following youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4
Don't let your friends feel left out.
Hug a pal today!
You can learn more about the Free Hugs Campaign here: www.freehugscampaign.org
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