Kum-ba-ya ---- Part Deuce??

I loved the pic I snapped last week in Harajuku and was genuinely moved by the sentiment.

And then... today... back in Harajuku... back to ogle the Harajuku girls and show off Meiji-jingu... I saw this guy:















My first thought was, "Hey! What's goin' on here?! That's not sincerity! That's not genuinunity (Think that's not a word? I dare you to look it up.)!" At first, I felt sad that last week hadn't been so unique as I'd previously believed. (Okay! So, I'm a softie! What's so crazy about that?! I mean, I'm ready to sign up as Mrs. "Where the hell is Matt," aren't I?) Then, after convincing Christie to just give the poor guy a hug, I asked him what the deal was. Why was he here offering out free hugs? Who was last week's guy? What's this all about! As they say, inquiring minds want to know.















And I quote (insert accented English and verbal/grammatical mistakes), "It makes my heart warm to see another person smile. And it warms their heart to know my happiness." Okay, so the quote employs a little of what I like to call "artistic license," but you get the idea. And, as sappy (and full of sap, you might say) as all that sounds, it was actually pretty sweet when he said it. Also, it turns out that there's some Australian (of course!) guy out there running all over the world offering up free hugs. Possible perv level on a 1-10 scale: 2. My willingness to overlook even a low pervy-ness rating in this case: 9. So, all's well that ends well.















It all ended with a "Have a good day" from all parties that was full of sincerity, warmth, happiness, and, yes, genuinuity.