追蹤揭秘：“抱抱團”軼事記

The man in front of me has fear in his eyes. It is the evening rush hour in London and I am standing in the middle of 1）Carnaby Street holding aloft a 2）placard that reads： “Free Hugs”. My mission is simply to reach out to strangers， clasp them close and make them feel better about their day—3）no strings attached. But this man isnt convinced. “What are you selling？” he asks.“Nothing，” I explain. “Were just offering hugs to people. For free.”

我面前的那個男人目露恐懼。那是倫敦傍晚的上下班高峰期，我高舉寫著“自由擁抱”的標語牌，站在卡爾納比街中央。我的目的很簡單，那就是向陌生人張開雙臂，緊緊抱住他們，讓他們心情更好——不求任何回報。但是，這個男人并不相信。“你在賣什么？”他問。“不賣什么，”我解釋道。“我們只是給人們提供擁抱。免費的。”

The man slips his iPhone out of his jacket pocket and takes a photo， as if he cannot quite believe what he is seeing. I open my arms in what I hope is a welcoming， earth-motherly fashion. I remember what Ive been told in the pre-hugs briefing by the group co-ordinator： smile， but not so much that you look psychotic， and dont take offence if someone doesnt want to hug you back. I wait. The man looks uneasy， a bit embarrassed and then， unexpectedly， his face breaks into a smile.

He hugs me. And although Ive been secretly 4）dreading the moment when Ill have to engage in a surprisingly intimate act with a stranger who might have all manner of personal 5）hygiene problems， I discover that its a nice feeling. We hold each other for a moment， then release. We exchange smiles and I watch as he makes his way back down the street.

The story of how I got to be here， pressing flesh with random pedestrians， is an 6）intriguing one.

In June 2004， an Australian who went by the 7）pseudonym Juan Mann started giving out free hugs in his local shopping mall. Mann had reached a point of personal crisis in his own life： his parents had divorced and his fiancée had broken off their engagement. He realised that people were living increasingly disconnected lives. The need for human contact had been neglected. In Manns eyes， we were living in a computer-mediated culture where friends were made through MySpace and families were breaking down. Where previously small-scale local communities had been integral to individual wellbeing， now people were pursuing 8）far-flung separate lives in different corners of the globe.

那男人從他的夾克口袋里掏出蘋果手機，拍了張照，好像不太能相信他眼前所見。我張開了雙臂，以一種自己希望是熱情的，猶如大地之母般慈愛的方式。我記得活動簡介會上，團隊協調員簡要地提醒過：微笑，但別太過，以免讓自己看上去像神經病，如果別人不想還你一抱，也別動怒。我等待著。那男人看起來不大自在，有一點尷尬，接著，出乎意料地，他的臉上綻開了笑容。

他擁抱了我。雖然我一直暗地里擔心這時刻，因為得和各色各樣或許有衛生問題的陌生人進行意外親密的接觸，但是我發現那感覺很棒。好一會兒，我們擁抱著彼此，然后放開。我們相視而笑，而后我看著他走回街上。

我是如何開始在這兒與來往的行人擁抱的？這是個挺有意思的故事。

2004年6月，一位化名胡安·曼恩的澳洲男子開始在他當地的購物中心獻出自由擁抱。曼恩自己的生活曾一度遭遇個人危機：父母離異，未婚妻也解除了他們的婚約。他意識到人們正過著越來越疏離的生活。人際交往的需要已經被忽略。在曼恩看來，人們處在一種電腦操控的文化之中，在這種文化中，我們通過聚友網交朋友，家庭則支離破碎。……