Hugging Can Be Hazardous ...

I consider law school a success already, in that it has now provided me with a semi-legitimate reason to avoid my least favorite social practice: superfluous hugging. Now, before people start calling me a misanthrope, let me clarify. I like hugging in some varieties: the I-am-dating-you variety (and my mom breathes a sigh of relief), the you-are-closely-related-to-me variety (another sigh of relief from my mom) and the we-are-really-good-friends variety. What I do not like (and basically avoid if at all possible) are those other types of hugging that happen so often: the we-only-met-two-hours-ago-but-I-paid-for-your-dinner variety and the we-once-spoke-to-each-other-in-high-school variety, to name just two of the many, many examples. Well, in my torts class today, we read a case about a man who gave a "friendly, unsolicited hug" to a rather shy person. This jovial fellow just wanted to be friendly, I am sure. But this seemingly harmless little hug injured the poor girl's face and caused it to be paralyzed on one side. Yes. I am not lying. You can look up the case yourself: Spivey v. Battaglia. I feel so vindicated ...