Brandon Frick and Paul Ironman, both 24 years old, have been friends since they were little. They both have lost family members since COVID-19 has started. Hugging for them feels the same with family members but with strangers, it’s a little different now.

“I miss hugging my grandma, but hugging does not feel different for me, I would say giving a handshake feels different for me only because you’re not sure what is going to happen” said Frick.

Frick and Ironman miss certain feelings of warmth and affection from specific members. During this whole new experience that COVID has made to them, they have been just letting the person that they are going to greet decide whether to hug or handshake. Since they have moved to a new state, they only hug certain people.

“I kind of go off of what they want, I don’t hug people because it’s just me and my girlfriend and some friends down here in Florida, and I don’t go hugging strangers, and it has not changed.” said Ironman.

The last time Ironman hugged someone was a week ago which was his girlfriend. Frick last hugged someone two weeks ago because he knows the person. They both do not really like hugging strangers because they do not know them, especially being in a new state. It is difficult for them to know what the other person would want them to do. They are both good handshakes so it is an advantage for them.

“I am a fairly good handshake man but with the COVID-19 thing, I kind of let the person decide what they want like a handshake, or a hug. I think it’s very safe to hug others. It’s not like you are spitting everywhere when I’m hugging somebody, I am not coughing you know, as long as we are exchanging bodily fluids; I don’t see why you should worry about getting sick” said Frick.

They both have recently moved from Illinois to Florida and they have experienced doing more handshakes than hugging people like they would back in their hometown in Illinois. Frick believes it is still safe to hug others or give handshakes. The only way that is not safe is by exchanging bodily fluids like spit or cough. Ironman and Frick are both conscious of what they are doing but they take precautions.

“I haven’t seen my older relative that I would want to protect them from Covid-19,” said Ironman. “If I was back in Illinois, I would want to see my gramma which she was 96 years old, but I couldn’t because I would put her in danger” 

Ironman and Frick both want to protect their elderly family members since they understand the risk they can go through. They both have not seen certain family members in a long time, since COVID-19 and miss certain hugs. Both have had almost the same experience since COVID-19 started because they do not know what to do when greeting others. It has made them learn how to communicate with body language.