Up until finding folkies, I didn't hug anybody except relatives, and only some of them when I couldn't get away in time. I didn't grow up in a "touchy" family. We weren't extreme - probably what was normal for the culture we were in. I found folk music in the 70's and folks were hugging all over the place. I think many of the people I met were flower children who had grown up a bit. It took me a while to get comfortable with it. It was a new social thing, and I wasn't sure who I should hug or when. The rules were what I wasn't comfortable with, not the actual hugging. I still haven't got 'em figured out.

It's not the hugging that's scary, it's figuring out the rules, and hoping other people are either sensitive or forgiving, or both.