Hiphuggers
posted by The Independent Observer
Walking out of the Chateau Laurier gymnasium the other day after a rather vigorous workout with the medicine ball, I spied a couple of young women holding signs.
They read: Free Hugs.
Naturally, I scurried briskly in the other direction, fearing these ladies to be intoxicated.
A short time later, I stumbled across a most interesting website devoted to this vexing phenomenon, The Free Hugs Campaign.
It seems things began when a disheartened young man, returning home from vacation to Sydney, Australia, was so starved for attention he sought the embrace of strangers in the street.
The authorities have now seen fit to ban the movement. But that hasn't stopped the campaigners from recruiting new jihugists.
Actually, it all reminds me of the whimsical days of my youth, as I could often be found strolling around the Kent State University campus placing daisies in the barrels of the guns clutched by National Guardsmen.
Ah, but that was a more innocent time.
Labels:
revolutionary movements,
street theatre
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3 comments:
IO, I'd have never thought to describe your youthful days as "whimsical."
Re: hugging, I've observed that a hug and a kiss from a mother to a small, wounded child often completely heals all trauma. Love is amazingly restorative.
I'm all for free hugs -- provided it doesn't turn into something creepy, which is inevitable of course.
Free hugs are invariably creepy in our capitalist society -- when they are offered by strangers, even well-meaning, bubbly youth. I would prefer to pay for one.
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