The Human Condition: Read My Lips, I'm Huggy

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Announce to one of your colleagues that you are feeling low and you need a stroke or a warm fuzzy, and they are likely to back away nervously. This is because they are emotionally illiterate. "Strokes" and "warm fuzzies" are shows of affection, whether a verbal compliment or a physical pat, and being able to give, receive and ask for them is a vital part of emotional literacy. (But beware of the insincere, who offer "plastic fuzzies", and the downright nasty, who deal in "cold pricklies".)

The fuzzies and the pricklies are the concept of Claude Steiner PhD, who incorporated them into a fable called The Warm Fuzzy Tale that has been a worldwide success. His latest book, …