What would happen if you went up to a complete stranger and gave them a hug? The answer may surprise you, but before you answer please take a moment. Imagine going up to a complete stranger and attacking them with a surprise hug. How do you think that person will react? Now imagine going up to random strangers and hugging them. What do they do?

  As a hugger these questions seem foreign. To me the more natural question is: who doesn’t want a hug? This may be why my sister Jacqui recently got to watch me run after a woman, that we do not know, stretching out my arms so that I could give her a hug and thank her for her kind words and compliments when I finally catch up to her. From my point of view getting up, running after this stranger, and thanking her with a surprise hug seems like the most logical thing to do.

  Hearing Jacqui describe what this might look like to anyone watching the next day is why we have answers to our hug questions. From Jacqui’s point of view she can see how anyone watching a woman walk over to us, spend a few moments, walk away, me get up, run after her stretching out my arms and picking up my pace to catch up with her could think: oh my what did that woman say, why is that woman running after her, is she going to attack her? Looking at my actions from this point of view I guess I did attack this woman, just with a big hug.

  The thought of my running after this woman arms stretching out as I catch up with her and attack her with a hug gives Jacqui such a smile that she tells me and our friend Lindsay what my attack hug might look like to anyone watching the next day. Our laughter leads us to talk about what would happen if I went up to random people to attack them with a hug? I see happiness after all who doesn’t want a surprise hug. Jacqui sits back and says wow I may need to work on how much I trust the human race because she sees how someone could turn around and actually hit her.

  We decide that this could be a perfect social experiment. What would happen if I went up to random strangers open my arms and attack them with a hug? Can you imagine the You Tube video? Sorry no video, but Jacqui did put our social experiment into action that day by asking me where is the attack hug as we all left the diner. Not wanting to disappoint I smile, walk back into the diner, go over to the two people on the bench, and say today I am giving random hugs. Thanks to Jacqui our social adventure is on. Unfortunately, I need to sign off here because I am over this column’s word limit.