In lieu of sleeping

It's extremely late, and I should be asleep, given that I'm freaking exhausted and need to be refreshed for tomorrow, as I'm meeting a large group of total strangers for a six-mile trek through Central Park. Six miles! I'm looking forward to it (and if any of my new New York readers care to join me, check out the particulars here).

On a completely unrelated note, I'd like to point out something surprising and wonderful I've discovered about New Yorkers. They like to hug -- a lot. I swear I've received more hugs in the last two weeks than I did in the last month I was in Dallas. Men, women ... everyone hugs! I wonder why this is. I think it may be related to one of my favorite Oklahoman's theory on why the men seem to be so very forward here. As he put it, in a town this size, you can walk down the same street at the same time every day and not see the same person twice. If you don't seize an opportunity to smile, to say hello, to give her your number, you've lost what could be your only chance to connect. I find I appreciate this mentality -- it's simultaneously practical and romantic.

As for the hugging ... perhaps people also seize opportunities to connect physically. Here, if you don't make an effort, you can easily go a day, a week, a month without touching another person (unless you count accidentally bumping into them). And, in a town where it's so easy to fade into the background, to be overcome by the current, perhaps people feel an urgent need to cling to their connections.

Hmm. It occurs to me this might not make much sense. And I suppose this could be naivety talking. Maybe these hugs are empty? I don't know. Perhaps I'll revisit the topic when I'm less delirious. Whatever the explanation, I'm happy to live in a city of fellow huggers, of people who don't deny themselves the pleasure of this simple, basic gesture.