Not a hugger

 I’ve had a worrying thought about life after the pandemic. What if this has changed people? What if the world is suddenly different? 

I’ve seem lots of social media posts recently saying, “I’m not a hugger but....”

It seems as though depriving some people of the excuse to touch strangers has made them want to do it even more. Boris was filmed at a vaccination centre yesterday, bouncing around like a lamb, touching elbows and leaning into the faces of vulnerable people who are just having their first dose of vaccine and so are nowhere near protected from someone who is spreading themselves around all sorts of people and places. The ten day, post vaccination spike in cases that they are seeing in Israel is going to be a lot sooner in the UK if Boris has his way.

I do get it. 

I think. 

No. Actually, I don’t. 

Human touch can be nice in the right place. Cuddling your children, a consensual snuggle with a partner, a goodbye hug when you leave home are all things I’m happy with but this need to touch strangers is just bizarre.  

If, like me, you are not keen on hugs it can be really tricky to refuse. It makes you look horrible, so you just grin and bear it. Take a deep breath, brace yourself and know that it will be over soon, all the while thinking, “We could have just waved!”

Now that people who don’t really hug but don’t actually hate it are saying they’ve missed it, I fear that life after lockdown is going to feel like the end of family parties as a kid, where every Aunt and Uncle had to give you a kiss goodbye and you spent what felt like an excruciating lifetime having your cactus spines pushed back in on yourself. 

And before you ask, there are no exceptions. I wouldn’t suddenly change my mind if Robert Downey Junior walked passed, looking for a hug.