This sounds like pretty much everyone I know. We have a big convention for our company and everyone is all huggy, even the VPs are passing them out.. it is a Southern thing.. I’m not a hug type person so it is awkward but I understand it.
You are 100% correct. When I first met my future in-laws from Wisconsin they thought I was going to attack them when I said goodbye with a big ol’ Texas bear hug. Northerners don’t like to touch each other too much.
Funny thing is that after all these years they greet me with open arms ready for a hug. It’s catchin’. . . .