Polaroid Photo

Sat
19
Dec '09

Bear hugs and free cookies

Man, people are weird. I spent today in the bear suit handing out cookies at the Saturday market. It’s actually a lot of fun because the kids totally love having a giant teddy bear give them cookies. What’s weird is that the adults just love the bear also, want hugs and will happily take a cookie.

Now. If I were dressed in normal clothes, even with a Christmas flavor, and tried to give a total stranger or a small child a cookie can you imagine the reaction? Dubious distrust. How about hugs? Sure, there would be some takers in both cases, but on the whole it would be seen as completely weird and a little sketchy.

But put me in a bear suit, so that you can’t identify me even by gender, and suddenly everything is fine. Weird.

3 Comments »

  • http://perspectives.rea-hedrick.com John Rea-Hedrick

    I consider myself an optimist so I’d like to think that there’s just something about a bear suit that brings out the childlike innocence in everyone. . .But then again, some kids eat dirt so what do I know.

  • Jeff S.

    I saw the same thing years ago when I worked at 6 Flags. Here is the part that’s a little counter intuitive, at least it was for me when I first heard it from a friend that wandered around as Foghorn Leghorn for a couple of years. He said he had to overcome his own reluctance to hug total strangers when he first started. He was a little bugged about it until he realized “He” wasn’t supplying the hugs, Foghorn was. So everyone was actually wanting a hug from the character and that made it all right. I imagine he wouldn’t have lasted long if he hadn’t been able to put on the persona and relax.

    Which, I just realized, answers why people are weird about these things. While I’m sure you’re very huggable in your own right, the bear has it in spades no matter who’s in the suit.

    Wasn’t there a guy last year that held a sign advertising free hugs and didn’t have many takers at first and also had to explain himself to the cops from time to time? I seem to remember a video about it from somewhere…

    Us humans are a cynical and suspicious bunch at times ain’t we?

  • Kristen Behlings

    Behold, the magic of puppetry. You are the bear.

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