- Joined
- Jul 5, 2012
- Messages
- 14,537
- Reaction score
- 24,108
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Website
- elizabethbonesteel.com
I suspect I'm not the only one here who often reads Ask A Manager. One of Alison's recent posts dealt with hugging at work - if you click through, it's well worth listening to the short audio segment (3 minutes). But the really interesting stuff, to me, is in the comments: I'm a please-don't-touch-me-at-work-kthxbye person, with exceptions made for handshakes. I was kind of shocked anyone was defending the idea, much less saying they liked it.
I posted this on Facebook, and a friend of mine became genuinely upset. Not only was she astonished that anyone would think hugging at work was unwanted or in any way inappropriate, she actually took offense.
The thing is, I'm quite affectionate with people I know. I've probably been the compulsive hugger with friends now and then. But at work? It's work. I married a colleague, and we didn't hug at the office, or even hold hands except when we were out on a walk.
So am I an oddity? Is this a regional/cultural/industry-specific thing? Should it really be incumbent upon the incipient hug-ee to say "uh, nice to see you, but no thanks"?
I posted this on Facebook, and a friend of mine became genuinely upset. Not only was she astonished that anyone would think hugging at work was unwanted or in any way inappropriate, she actually took offense.
The thing is, I'm quite affectionate with people I know. I've probably been the compulsive hugger with friends now and then. But at work? It's work. I married a colleague, and we didn't hug at the office, or even hold hands except when we were out on a walk.
So am I an oddity? Is this a regional/cultural/industry-specific thing? Should it really be incumbent upon the incipient hug-ee to say "uh, nice to see you, but no thanks"?