where'd that come from?

I had something a little...bemusing...happen to me today. You ever have someone you know well act in a way--whether good, bad, or neutral--that is so unexpected, so apart from their usual behavior, that you think, "Wait. Did you swap brains with someone today?"

As background, this is someone I am in a professional relationship with. We've known each other for over twenty years. We really like and really respect each other and have always had a fantastic working relationship. As further background, this person is about to go away for a month to a somewhat dangerous foreign country. (Yeah, don't ask me why. If I had the money to finance such an undertaking, it'd be five star resorts, not third world nations, but it takes all kinds.)

I stopped by his office on my way out today to say "Happy New Year!" and "Don't get malaria!" and "No, I'm sure wearing your Red Sox hat won't totally make you look like an American who ought to be kidnapped!" and other such pre-vacation sentiments, and completely unexpectedly, he put his arms out and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek with the "Happy New Year"s. Now, in our over twenty years of acquaintance, I think I may possibly have gotten one hug before, at my mom's wake, but wakes are just a huge blur of people hugging and patting you, so I couldn't even swear to that. This man is not a hugger.

It wasn't weird or unpleasant or anything like that. It was nice. *I* am a hugger. (Consider yourself warned.) It was just so "where'd that come from?"

Maybe deep down he is worried about tropical diseases, plane crashes, and ransom notes. Latent fear of death makes people do strange things.

xoxo