Mass-hugging? Sounds faintly Californian-cultish, doesn’t it?
When I moved from the East Coast (US) to California in 1969, hugging was just getting started on the West Coast. It was considered a breakthrough in social interaction, like smiling in photographs, as it was designed to make everybody get along better, in a more loving way. I came from a culture in which it was considered excessively demonstrative even if married people held hands in public, so I felt like an observer, not a participant.
It has long been said that trends start in California, then radiate east and west in predictable time frames, except for
haute couture, which originates in and radiates from Paris.
Hugging is like a gateway drug; it leads to stronger demonstrances, like full-frontal grinding contact with strangers of the same or opposite sex. Faced with a new socially-acceptable trend, one does not have to participate. One might be labeled an outsider, party-pooper, nerd, or some other name, but no matter. I have survived as a non-hugger in California for 45 years, and I think that I'm a better person for it!
