You look like you need a hug.

So, should I give you one?

You see someone walking past you and you can see that she really is down and needs a hug. Do you:

a) walk up to her and give her a great big ole bear hug,

or

b) keep your eyes where they belong and keep on walking?

Perhaps it's because I don't have decent social skills, but this little dilemna has crossed my path a few times and I still don't have any idea what I should do. Do you walk up to a complete stranger and hug them when you can see that they need it or note it in your head and walk away? I can say that I have chosen option b each time.

Yet, somehow their downtrodden looks still bother me. Is it the culture I live in, that nice self-protecting combination of being an introvert and raised in New York where the fear that they're more likely to scream that they're being raped rather then thank you for the hug, or is it because there is something wrong with me? Hah. I think I asked the same question twice.

I wonder if these feelings are an aberration and I should just ignore what is likely an unnatural and habititual desire to smother people in unwanted bear hugs. Perhaps I am being oversensitve. (That BS about girls wanting sensitive men is merely an excuse they give so that they do not have to say that they have no physical desire for you! Make an observation at any local event or hangout. Do the girls go after the jerks or the nice guys? You decide. Full disclosure: I am an embittered nice guy who actually listened to what girls said they wanted. What baloney!)

What would you do?

Edit: Today (being 9/21) a major radio station has a skit about giving random people hugs. Totally coincidental, but amusing, nonetheless.