I talked to a friend of mine and her best friend on the phone (who I didn’t really know before) we had a good conversation and laughed a lot. Coincidentally I meet them and I hugged her and her best friend as a greeting. Now I feel kind of weird, should I give her a handshake? Was I too intrusive? She was surprised that I still knew her name (Iam talking about the bsf)
7 comments
Are you also a girl? If so, you’re fine.
You should always ask before hugging someone. Not everyone is a “hugger type”
It depends on the girl, a handshake is formal, hugs are personal… But some people just don’t like hugs.
I’d say something more like a high five would be appropriate if you just ran into them and were excited. A side hug/shoulder squeeze is usually a safe bet, though. I think if it was a quick hello hug they probably didn’t bat an eye at it.
That’s a tough one! It sounds like you were being friendly, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You could always just apologize for the hug if you feel awkward. If you really want to avoid the situation in the future, the best thing to do would be to just stick to handshakes or a polite nod instead. That way you won’t risk making anyone feel uncomfortable.
Depends on the hug as well. Shoulders in/hips out hug is much less intrusive than a full on embrace
If you’re worried about this one interaction, it’s probably fine. Likely it would make a huge negative impression if she wasn’t the hugging type. I assume you would’ve hugged your friend first, and then her. Going forward, perhaps wait for her to initiate a hug, since we don’t know how she feels about hugs in general and giving people she’s not familiar with.
If you want to address it directly, you could mention it next time you meet her by giving her an option of what greeting she would like.