Something happened with hugs. It happened in a short span of time; the leapfrog period of my youth till now. Hugs for me are a personal connection between family and close friends, when a handshake is not enough and a kiss is too much (or inappropriate).
But something happened. A hug evolution. Hugs used to be a full-frontal embrace: A greeting or goodbye. Consensual physical contact between willing participants, with a brief – or prolonged (depending on context) – arm wrap, like two constrictors meeting in the rainforest.
Most hugs now are sterile…tentative. Hugs are one of the things in life that require full participation. You have to be all-in. Anything less is like parking crooked between the lines.
The new evolved hug is a tentative lean-in sideways shoulder bump. It’s more like two big horn sheep meeting on the side of mountain than an embrace. And because I’m an “all-in” hug guy, I invariably find myself with my arms around someone that has their shoulder stuck in the center of my chest and their head recoiling in the opposite direction. It’s the new sideways hug.