Side Hugs and Tall Girls

Ah, the side hug. First off, who invented this thing? As a tall girl living in a short, side huggy world, I have a score to settle with that person.

Truth be told, sometimes side hugs are inevitable, due to expectations or culture or other people’s preferences. And most of the time they work great, when the huggers have normal heights. But then there are those times when a shortish sort of guy is greeting a towering sort of girl, and let me just tell you, things can get awkward super fast. Maybe short people don’t notice these things, but if you are a tall girl, you are probably nodding by now and maybe even blushing at the memory of a particularly bad hug. For those instances when you are faced with a situation where an awkward side hug is coming up and you can’t hastily retreat to the bathroom or your car, I have drawn up a helpful guide. This is mostly directed towards guys who are, um, less-tall, for the purpose of eliminating all that awkwardness, although some tall girls probably need to read this too.

First. Generally the guy’s arm goes around the girl’s shoulder, right? It’s kind of protective and sweet, and works well when the guy is tall, or even when the guy is short and the girl is less akin to a giraffe than, ahem, me. HOWEVER! If the girl is tall and you awkwardly bend your arm to go over her shoulder while she scrunches down to try to fit, sweetness and friendship are not what are on her mind. Rather, it’s something more like, “Gaahhh, when will this end??”

(I know, my artwork is just incredible.)

“What am I to do?” you may ask in despair, thinking of all the hugs you’ve given to tall girls. “Must I resign myself to even more awkward waves across the room as I dash out the door?” Not at all!

When going in for the hug, simply place your hand on the girl’s back, with your arm crossing hers as shown below, instead of over her shoulder. If the girl has any clue how to receive hugs, it’ll all work out. (If she hasn’t, I take no responsibility for her.) And…bam. Problem solved. Now her shoulder isn’t awkwardly tucked under yours, with her back making an impossible S, and you don’t have to visit the chiropractor after the hug to put your shoulder back in place.

(How has nobody hired me to draw for them yet?)

Bonus tip. If you’re still afraid, and break into a cold sweat whenever bidding a tall girl farewell, simply wait till she is seated, and there ya go.

(Aha, this is why. I cannot draw chairs!)

Disclaimer: I DO love hugs. Even side hugs. And many people give awesome hugs. Even short people. Hopefully after this post goes viral (cough), even more people will give awesome hugs! 😀