The story behind it all

Off to-day. But was at work. Sort of.

Company dinner. Invited because I was one of the few contract staff that stayed on beyond 12 months. So. Surrounded by colleagues.... people I would NOT necessarily have lunch with. The entire dinner was a comedy of errors.

- Menu was picked by someone who had no taste buds.
- MCs were non-existant and I spent the evening either trying to decipher my food, or stare in bafflement at the propoganda videos that would spring up from the giant vidscreens with nary an introduction.
- And to top it off, a kind colleague offered to send us home. I ended up with a 40 minute wait and a bloody 2 hour car ride.

Home, fed and watered (no, I didn't eat much), I decided to find out more about the Hug Thing I'd posted on previously.

It's a great story, if it's true....

Some background is in order. A year ago, Juan Mann was just an odd guy standing in the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney, Australia offering "free hugs" to passing strangers. One of the people he hugged was Shimon Moore, the lead singer of the Sick Puppies. They became friends, and one day Moore decided to borrow a video camera showing Mann doing his thing. As the "free hug" campaign started to spread, the city council tried to ban it, even attempting to impose a huge liability insurance requirement on him for offering free hugs in public. So Mann and his friends mounted a petition campaign, and after presenting more than 10,000 to the city council, the calls for a ban died away.

The rest, as they say, is history.
Great post, pop by and have a read.