{"id":15211,"date":"2014-11-10T03:51:01","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T11:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=15211"},"modified":"2014-11-10T03:51:01","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T11:51:01","slug":"views-from-across-the-pond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/views-from-across-the-pond\/","title":{"rendered":"VIEWS FROM ACROSS THE POND"},"content":{"rendered":"

A HUG IN TIME<\/strong><\/p>\n

A hug is the perfect gift- one size fits all
\nand nobody minds if you exchange it.
\nIrvin Ball<\/p>\n

A very young man in our Midwest was expelled from school for hugging his teacher.\u00a0 The administration explained that his gesture of affection was inappropriate.\u00a0 The young man was 11 years old.<\/p>\n

What a sad statement about an adult\u2019s interpretation of a child\u2019s spontaneous impulse.\u00a0 That young man was not planning to pin a teacher 30 years his senior and twice his size against a wall and ravish her.\u00a0 He was telling her, in the most wonderful way any human can, that she is a wonderful being to him.<\/p>\n

I can think of no sweeter gift to receive than a hug \u2026it says so much more than a kiss or fling between the sheets.\u00a0 It says, \u201cI love who you are and I want you to know that right now.\u201d\u00a0 It does NOT say, \u201cYou belong to me,\u201d or \u201cyou need to live with me,\u201d or \u201cI need your body this minute.\u201d\u00a0 Not at all.<\/p>\n

It does say, \u201cYou are so great at this moment in time that I need to hold you close and absorb some of your lovely, inspiring energy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 What greater gift any anyone give another?<\/p>\n

A few years ago, in Edinburgh I as walking down the street with an Englishman who had been such an immense help to me that I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Thank you seemed so lame, so inadequate.\u00a0\u00a0 Suddenly, I knew that I had to hug him that very minute to show him that he was like a god to me\u2026.and\u00a0 I did.\u00a0 I dropped my packages and threw my arms around him and held him tight.<\/p>\n

To my embarrassed surprise, he pushed me away.\u00a0 At first, I was humiliated and angry, but I was puzzled as well.\u00a0 I had no designs on him.\u00a0 I had no thoughts of indulging in lascivious behavior in the middle of a busy Edinburgh street.\u00a0 I was giving him the biggest compliment I knew how to give and he trampled on it.\u00a0 And then I realized how sad it was that this poor fellow didn\u2019t understand the power of an innocent hug.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t get that it is one of those human things we can do face to face.\u00a0 It cannot be done on a cell phone or skype. A facebook post is simply not the same.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have the power\u2026the intensity of feeling\u2026. that a hug can give.<\/p>\n

A hug has to be done person to person.\u00a0 It is a gorgeous moment in time that transforms your world for just a tiny. beautiful second.\u00a0 It is better than a vitamin, stronger than a shot of whisky and more lasting than any flower I could have pinned in that obtuse guy\u2019s buttonhole.<\/p>\n

I attributed his rejection to his being English until that next year when I came to Brighton and went down to the pier bearing a sign \u201cHUG A GRANNY.\u201d\u00a0 Since everyone on the pier was English, I figured I would stand there, shivering and alone for five minutes and then rollup my invitation and go home.<\/p>\n

Not so.<\/p>\n

Within seconds, I was hugged by couples, mothers, teen agers, tiny children, a whole school of adolescents and three policemen who assured me I had made their day.\u00a0 It might have been the sea air that loosened their inhibitions; it might have been that in Brighton we understand the value of a hug.\u00a0 I am not sure what caused the avalanche of affection I received that memorable day.<\/p>\n

What I do know is that I will never be afraid to hug anyone ever again\u2026it is the best way I know to say \u201cWhat a unique human being you are!\u201d and if that person doesn\u2019t hear me?\u00a0 Well, I guess, if we were in America, he could expel me from school.\u00a0 BUT if he lived in Brighton, he would hug me right back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A HUG IN TIME A hug is the perfect gift- one size fits all and nobody minds if you exchange it. Irvin Ball A very young man in our Midwest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[837],"tags":[571],"class_list":{"0":"post-15211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-joe-cillo","7":"tag-observations"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"