After a few hours of conversation in a room at the Super 8 motel in Roseville, Marissa Weiss fell asleep with a man’s arm around her waist.
The man, however, was not her boyfriend. In fact, they had met only hours before. Weiss, 22, was a “professional snuggler.” For $80 an hour, she would cuddle, comfort and caress for a fee.
“There’s no undertone or hidden message,” said the college student from River Falls, Wis., who quit the side gig in January to focus on classes. “It’s just platonic cuddling.”...
“The argument for human touch is particularly poignant in our culture now because we don’t go shake hands and sit with people as often as we used to,” said Chandler Yorkhall, integrative medicine practitioner at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. “Research bears out that touch is as important as food. Medicine doesn’t have everything we need; we can also benefit from things that touch into our primal human needs, such as touch.”
In Portland, cuddle enthusiasts gathered last Valentine’s Day for CuddleCon, a cuddling convention. National car service Uber is getting in on the snuggle phenomenon, too, by delivering kittens to people in cities, including Minneapolis, for a 15-minute snuggle. And in Virginia, a goat cheese farm was inundated with responses to its request for volunteers to snuggle baby goats.
Cozying up to a furry animal is a no-brainer, but spooning a stranger?
“It totally makes sense to me,” Yorkhall said. “It makes you feel better. It’s a fix in a weird way.” (there is more)
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| A group "cuddle puddle" at Outside Lands, Aug. 9, 2015 |
29 comments:
We need less cuddling and more culling. Am I right!
For 80 bucks, plus the cost of a Super 8 motel room, around 70 bucks, I won't settle for anything less than a happy ending.
Kids today.
Except these aren't children doing childish things, snuggling up in a pile, they're adults. Unfortunately, they're adults selfishly incapable of forming the sort of serious, thoughtful, lasting relationship that would provide opportunity for meaningful touch so they're settling for dryhumping strangers in a pile. (Sorry, ladies, that's what the guys are doing.)
One fart and this whole idea is shot to hell.
Beats joining ISIS, no? And, really, isn't going to a Trump rally just another form of group cuddle?
Right on cue.
"Cuddling releases oxytocin — the love hormone — which can ward off depression and loneliness, reduce pain and even lower blood pressure, according to research."
Try giving Huma Abedin a hug and see how many oxytocins are released.
I love the touch of the girl's hand at the drive through when she passes me my bag of No. 1 doubleburger-no-cheese and fries and coke. I think she feels the same.
That's why I always pay with a bill and never carry change.
The redhead in the orange knit cap. I'd cuddle that.
Allen, I support the Huma approach to fending off the silly, needy huggers.
It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Huma Mahmood Abedin suffers depression, loneliness, pain, and high blood pressure. In fact, I'd be surprised if she doesn't suffer those things.
She might likely rebuff an offered hug from me. Fine. Still, in trying to follow the teachings of Jesus, particularly his teachings from the Gospel of Matthew, I would do my best to forgive Huma's trespasses against me, judge her not that I would be free from her judgements of me, and love Huma as I love myself.
I support the Huma approach to fending off the silly, needy huggers.
I support the same. To be human is to suffer something. Huma has her reasons, as to those seeking to dole out hugs and chirps. In the long run, it's integrity that matters most, with fine sounding words painting only half a picture.
I currently have seven male cardinals hanging about the bird tree, picking up sunflower seeds at the feeders outside my window. Some are accompanied by a female partner, others are not. During this season of the year, when territory is not in dispute, they show up to feed without acting on the need to dominate and control. There's also an assortment of foreign squirrels who nest outside the yard and magically appear whenever the peanuts are out.
"It totally makes sense!"
Translation: It's insane but I wanna do it!
Times up! Back to your cellphones.
I think people squeeze me to see if stripped toothpaste will extrude from my mouth in a steady flow.
I mentioned the late run to the corner shop and the very short corpulent Latino person with plastic bags dangling from each hand. He struck it up complaining a bit while I waiting for the light, told me morosely "It's even my birthday." I said, "Cumpliaños" and he threw his arms around my waist, his height, and squeezed. A stranger. On a word. At night. Empty street.
It happens around here. Jeez, make delicate cheese chipotle breadsticks and end up getting squeezed HARD right there in public completely out of character for British accented person. I never know when I'm going to get clamped.
Each time I think, what if you squeezed a poo outta me? It'd be my mess. My embarrassment.
I'm not complaining. I like it. But the practice does come with hazard.
I knew I recognized something in our virtuous visitor. It's the humility, yeah, that's it. I expect he'll soon be washing ST's feet and looking for an ass to ride back to Madison.
I've got nails and lumber if you want to go whole hog.
He comes here because there is already somebody riding his ass in Madison. So he has to come here and bother us.
Hahaha. Trooper is the only person who will Make Lem's Levity Great Again.
Lots of guys "like to cuddle" in their grindr profile. I specifically say in my profile, "I don't like to cuddle; I have a dog for that". I get lots of woofs for that comment-and my body.
I just want to do it.
"I've got nails and lumber if you want to go whole hog."
Hahaha. That just made me realize something. You know who was one of the biggest and best trolls ever?
That's right — Jesus.
Lol. Is there seriously a mild anti-cuddle sentiment at work here?
Aside from Meade's citation of the medical effects, socially there ain't nothin' wrong with it. And we all know what cuddling can lead to.
"And we all know what cuddling can lead to."
With strangers in Minneapolis it can lead to gonorrhea, syphilis, hepatitis, herpes, aids, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, papillomavirus and genital warts.
Get a dog. They bring on the oxytocin release and don't charge $80/hour (unless it's a rental) or expect you to call in the morning.
"And we all know what cuddling can lead to."
Then Titus sneaks in behind you. Which is why you need to keep a crowd splitter loaded in the chamber at these things. If that just makes him more frisky, you might have to go full gravy pants. Either way, some embarrassment now is better than eternal damnation.
The author confused issues there. Cuddle puddles (as I understand them) are free.
Huma doesn't look cuddly. Neither does Anthony Weiner,......I wonder if some people pursue sex because it's easier to confess to horniness than to loneliness. There's something needy and embarrassing about wanting to be hugged although that need is probably more primal than the wish to copulate.
Rabel is correct. Here's what it's leading to in Minneapolis.
"Get a dog."
Not for hugging you shouldn't. Canines interpret putting a limb over another animal as a sign of dominance. Even dogs who have been trained to be very submissive are not comforted by hugs from humans. This is the main reason human toddlers (who hug for affection and protection) need to be closely and continuously supervised around dogs. And children should be taught to show affection to friendly dogs simply by offering an open palm to sniff and, if the dog accepts, limiting the touch to gently and calmly rubbing the dog's chin, neck, and chest.
If you really need a pet for hugging, best to get a primate.
"best to get a primate"
For example, AllenS could get a Shouty and Shouty could get a AllenS. WIN WIN!!
This cuddling idea is for the birds. The men will get erections, etc., so it's nothing but a big tease. An 'arm around the shoulder' club would be much more legit. Or even a dry-humping dating site. Would Meet-Up allow that?
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