TV
Since your thread has gotten a bit hijacked, I wanted to commend you on your last paragraph. It’s powerful stuff, a sort of curmudgeon’s creed. I think it articulates what a lot of feel. I’m going to pass it on.
On the other hand, maybe hugging doesn’t seem all that unreasonable after you’ve been reciting poetry and dancing barefoot in a circle. 
I hug my daughter all the time, and if I’m dating someone I’ll hug them a lot too. If a friend is going through a traumatic time, then I will hug them, or if they’re someone I very rarely see. For me, hugs are for special occasions and special people. Hugging too often devalues the contact.
TV, that class sounds like New Age Hell. Some ‘new age’ theories/practices have value - aromatherapy has a basis in science, and is just plain pleasant, reflexology is the same, acupuncture seems to work - though I don’t know how. But ‘Feng Shui for the face’? That’s just money-grubbing, and makes everyone else look bad. But I am very curious as to what the course entails!
I so much fucking hate people who want to hug all the time. No, I DON’T want to hug a total stranger. Hell, I don’t even want to hug long-time friends. I’ll hug my SO, and occasionally my parents, and my brothers on rare occasions. Other than that, no hugs.
Oh, I support your “no-hug” policy. I fucking hate it when people try to hug me. I HATE IT!
There is one (1) person on this planet who can hug me—my husband. I like hugging him. He gives great hugs. I do not like hugging my parents, I do not like hugging my siblings, or any other family members. I do not like hugging in-laws (My FIL insists on hugging and even kissing my cheek every time he sees me. It’s all I can do to keep from shuddering in disgust.) I do not hug friends.
I don’t like it! LEAVE ME ALONE!
There, I feel better.
TV, I’m sorry to have started a hijack. I abase myself before your superior crankiness. Friends? How about a hug?
::seawitch runs away very very fast::
The character played by Ed Asner was LOU Grant, not Lew.
And you work for a newspaper? You sicken me, get out of my sight.
I’m sorry, I just need a hug.