+ Kiss kiss (Photo credit: غzǻҰёll ♥ RAINBOW !)
One of my quirks is space. I don’t like folks standing too close. I don’t want to see their tonsils or teeth fillings or the shrimp stuck there from yesterday. I don’t know the exact measurement that I need to feel comfortable but I know when it’s not met.
I can be a huggy, touchy-feely person just not too much. My family is not particularly touchy-feely at all. We never kiss to greet and only hug when the situation is grave – like at funerals, weddings (yes, those are grave), terminal illnesses and when someone had something really bad happen. It’s a demonstration of solidarity that we don’t waste on just saying “hi.”
We don’t do air kisses either. I always thought that might be cool (it’s so French!) as long as there was absolutely no touching. Let me make this perfectly clear. Absolutely. No. Touching!
I have attended weddings where the bride looked like she was greeted by Freddie Krueger. Either that or her lipstick was put on by her old blind aunt Maude. That’s just nasty. Women who wear red lipstick should not be kissing anyone.
For a time I was married to Brand X whose family was very kissy-kissy. They didn’t like each other. They preferred demonstrations of affection instead of the real thing. Egad! They kissed on the lips. Before eating. After eating. After drinking a case of beer (do you know what that smells like???). Gross. It reinforced my aversion to all that.
I do like hugs and feelings of affection (preferably expressed with Starbucks gift cards).
Now that I have said that (or put it in writing) I am known to kiss my cats on the snoot. We all know where what was recently, don’t we? I never said I made sense, did I?
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
I like hugs and kisses, but I often ask if it’s okay to hug, just in case the huggee objects. 🙂
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My folks weren’t touchy feely other. It took me a long time before I was comfortable giving and receiving a hug. Kisses? On the cheek, and that’s usually reserved for family or very close friends.
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I’m with you. I think a lot depends on how you were raised.
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The line of the week:
I do like hugs and feelings of affection (preferably expressed with Starbucks gift cards).
I’m not a toucher either and when one comes toward me boy, is that not a great moment for me. I become so tense you could bounce tennis balls right off my back.
Nice piece…and snarky too 🙂
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I tense up when I see the lips all puckered up coming dangerously close to my face (unless, of course, it some hottie).
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I am good at sending hugs via cyberspace….. in person I get the creepy crawlies. My family are undemonstrative except at funerals maybe. Kisses are reserved for dogs and cats. We are alike Kate. Sending hugs……. Love, Dor
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Right back atcha!
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We lived in the Philippines for over fifteen years, and people there require a smaller personal space. I think I’m about average for an American, which meant that when I stood in line at the post office, I left a foot or two between me and the person ahead of me. People walking past always cut through that space. It was the only one available in what was usually a very long line. Everyone else left a space of only a couple of inches.
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Ahhh lines! That is one place where I will suck it up and snuggle in fairly close. I hate line breakers and too much space encourages that.
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Immediately knew the song 🙂
My family is pretty kissy … and I don’t see them much so it freaks Hubbs out when my sisters kiss us 🙂
MJ
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Yes, that would freak me out too!
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We hug in my family when we come or go. That’s it. My pet peeve is being kissed on the hand. Creeps me out.
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Ooh! I would wonder where your hand was…..
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I keep mine very clean. One of my parents worked in the OR. Need I say more? 😉
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Well, I probably won’t kiss it anyway but that’s good know! I am neurotic about hand washing. I fully believe it has kept me from getting colds and stuff for the past 20 years.
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I don’t see my family but about every 3-4 months so I do give them a hug each time we visit. No kissing…just a hug to greet and leave. If we met oftener I am sure we would not.
My son and his new bride have a beautiful golden retriever. They are slurping over it all the time. I have no problem with that……as long as the dog knows not to slurp me. And it doesn’t!!!!!!!
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Hugs (without groping) are good. Dog slurping is good too unless I am all dressed up.
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I like lots of space, but in my family we have to hug and kiss hello, goodbye, excuse me I’m leaving the room for a moment…otherwise people are hurt and offended and then we have to kiss and make up. Easier just to kiss the first time around!
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Somehow I am not surprised!
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I do not like air kisses. There is almost always touching (what part of AIR kisses do people not get?) and mostly I’m worried about my glasses knocking into someones face. Hugs are good with me though. *bear hugs*
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Oh yes glasses! Knocked off, speared or flying off — it’s all not good.
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I’m with you, Kate. Stay out of MY space:
Pass me that Starbucks.
Do NOT touch me.
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Exceptions ~ cats, dogs, and well behaved children.
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Ok! Maybe I’m not all that unusual after all.
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You and I would get along just fine. You stand over there, while I stand over here– and we’ll call it a hug! Close enough, right?
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Works for me! Air mail French kisses too!
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