The Hug Patrol

I have to say that one of the oddest things at Starfest this year is the “Hug Patrol.” There is a group of about four or five underage, pretty, petite girls in various sci-fi costume (one as Six of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager) carrying around placards with “Free Hugs” on them. They are mildly aggressive in their approach, and they don’t care if you are some overweight sci-fi geek (the only thing they seemed to care about is body odor).

Now, being a 38-year old male, I’m old enough to be these girls father (remember, said girls are underage). I don’t know these girls. So, no matter how “hot” they may be, they aren’t touching me,.

A little bit ago, I’m in the elevator with said girls (who held up the process of our boarding the elevator by attempting to embrace every male that left the elevator) and I’m thinking, “What’s the point of this little exercise on their part? Are they practicing for an eventual shift into a life as escorts, where they will dress up as your favorite sci-fi chick and you can indulge a sexual fantasy? Are there hidden cameras so that they can try to blackmail some men who get a bit too friendly with the hug?”

I wanted to ask the question, but my desire to NOT have them touch me outweighed my curiosity. IF they are around tomorrow, I may ask the purpose.

Maybe I’m just being overly cynical. However, I think back to a recent story on TV where a Dade County (Florida) police investigator talked about the number of underage girls (as young as 12) producing their own porn for the Internet (which you know what kind of porn that becomes…the very illegal kind). They either getting angry with the police for stopping their webcam (or other digital media) activities or not seeing what the big deal is about their showing off naked or engaging in sex on the Internet. Now, maybe the Hug Patrol is innocent, but I can’t help but think of a certain ugly underside.

Update: On Sunday, some nerdy guys were part of the Hug Patrol. Lepidus informs me that of the guys was doing it yesterday, but I apparently hadn’t been paying attention. I still didn’t bother to ask what the heck was up, though I was tempted.