awkward man hugs

i'm not one for hugging...especially with dudes.  it's not that i'm a homophobe or anything, i just find the man-hug an awkward gesture.  it always seems forced, yet when a dude initiates a man-hug, you can't reject it, else you'll make the man-hug initiator even more comfortable and create an awkward silence.  man-hugs should be reserved only for good friends, and should only be dealt out when it's been a long time since the last meeting, or that you know it will be a long time before you see the dude again.

 

man-hugs are even worse when it's with someone that's not even a close friend or relative, but a co-worker...or even worse, your boss.  my old boss left this place on sunday.  it seemed like every day he had some sort of farewell event...farewell flight, change of command, farewell hand-shake, farewell toast, farewell dinner, final briefing...really, we said goodbye to him enough.  anyhow, at 3 of these events, he was in a man-hugging mood.  so, in the span of just a week, i got 3 man-hugs from the guy.  i've known people for years, that have not man-hugged me that much.  each time as he was man-hugging others around, i thought of ways to escape the clutches of a man-hug, but eventually gave in.  the whole thing seemed odd, as i didn't really hang around the boss too much...he was always busy schmoozing his boss.  i'm sure his boss got something more than the 3 man-hugs i received...