From a non-hugger family. We left notes for each other on the fridge. At family gatherings we'd say Did you see my note? Mn. Yeah, and you saw mine, I take it? Mm.

Married into a family of huggers, loud, demonstrative operatic people, kind of like a Scottish mafia. People ask me exactly how they are like a Scottish mafia, I say Imagine a Scottish Mafia--There! Like that. Also, they fart, sometimes in conjuntion with a pre-amble or public announcement. My family doesn't fart, to my wife's amazement, never have.

I've learned about two things--how to hug, and how to pretend to be a regular guy. But unlike a previous reformed non-hugger, I never supposed a hug from a woman promised something more--in fact I'm the reigning champion in a local contest of Who Is Slowest to Pick Up on Subtle Signs From Women. My winning entry was Having decided years later that being invited to sleep beside a woman in her bed might have been a little clue, but still, she probably just worried if I was comfortable.

I don't find it all that difficult--you catch a person's eye, do the "Hug?" gesture, and if they pick it up, hug, if they miss it, or prefer not to catch it, you pass on the hug. I've also got much better at picking up signs from women, now that it's of no use to me, so I train younger guys.