To ask if you've ever hugged your plumber? (light hearted)

[Myearhurts]

This is my second AIBU of the day but here goes . . .

Today my plumbers finished some work in our house. It's been an ongoing one since the end of last week and we've had 3 plumbers from the same company at our house on various occasions.

The boss plumber arrived today, with the other two plumbers, to oversee the most complicated stage of the work and ensure that it was completed.

I paid on the spot by card. As they were leaving I gave the boss plumber £10 as a tip and a thank you.

He was very pleased to get this and said something like 'come here' and gave me a one armed hug.

I was a bit surprised and said something along the lines of 'Oh, OK' and I just sort of stood there and vaguely held my arms out feeling a bit awkward.

Is this what people do these days? Do you hug your workmen?

I was a bit taken aback and surprised by it all. It's been a good few hours now and I'm now slightly paranoid that I misinterpreted it all and he didn't really mean for it to happen. What if I get blacklisted as the local plumber hugger? I need a new boiler soon.

Before anyone suggests it, it was definitely not pervy in anyway. It was in front of two witnesses and was very fatherly hug.

[LadyLuck10]

I think you just had a moment. He was touched by the tip and felt warm and returned the gesture.
Plumber hugger

[SaucyJack]

No, never hugged a plumber.

but there's a gas fitter who works for the council that I want to lick

[Waitingonasunnyday]

My plumber is also a friend but I have never hugged him! Why was it one armed hug? Are you sure he said 'come here' to you, was anyone stood behind you?!

I once shook someone's hand just as I realised they were 'talking with their hands' Tony Blair style rather than trying to shake my hand

[EBearhug]

I ended up holding hands with one of my male colleagues in the middle of the office this afternoon, and I'm still not sure how (it might have been to stop me hitting him, as he was about to tell me some bad project news, but I don't usually go round assaulting people in the office, even when I don't want to hear what they say!) I just sort of realise, and took my hands away and decided I will never ever mention it again. God knows what others thought.

Have never hugged a plumber, though. I can't imagine feeling that friendly just because they've just done a safety check on the boiler.

[Ludoole]

My mum hugs anyone who does something for her
It was the gasman who fixed a leak last week.

[mymummademelistentoshitmusic]

Not specifically a plumber, but a workman that came to out something that absolutely shouldn't have been wrong, right, and when exh was away and I had pnd (but wasn't bloody stupid! And knew it was wrong). A fucking brand new Wimpey shit hole where the electric had been wired wrongly and dangerously)He said he was so angry he wouldn't even take payment from me, but the bastards paid! He reassured me, actually gave me a (very nice, fatherly) hug, and came back an hour later with hone made cake from his wife (the first mnetter, or she should have been). They became, and remain, good friends.

[lentilpot]

My mum got a kiss from the postman the other day for her 70th!

[BOFster]

To my shame I once gave my postman a hug. It was Christmas, and I was just being appreciative. I should think he would rather have had a tip .

[FoxgloveFairy]

Funnily enough, I know a marine engineer who has done a spot of plumbing work here. He is also a handy carpenter, electrician and tech adviser. I fancy him and now only do we hug a lot, I allow him sexual liberties. Mind you, he is also my husband

[BOFster]

In fact, here's one of my favourite jokes (excuse the Americanisms):

After 35 years, mailman George decides to retire. On his last day, he makes his usual rounds.

When he arrives at the first house, the whole family comes out, congratulates him, and sends him on his way with a tidy gift envelope.

At the second house, they present him with a box of fine cigars. The folks at the third house hand him a selection of terrific fishing lures.

At the next house, he is met at the door by a strikingly beautiful woman in a revealing negligee. She takes him by the hand and leads him up to the bedroom, where she blows his mind with the most passionate sex he has ever experienced.

When done, they go downstairs, where she fixes him a giant breakfast. As she pours him a cup of coffee, he notices a dollar bill sticking out from under the cup's bottom edge.

"All this is just too wonderful for words," he says, "but what's the dollar for?"

"Well," she says, "last night, I told my husband that today would be your last day and that I wanted to do something special for you. I asked him what to give you. He said, 'Screw him. Give him a dollar.' But breakfast was my idea."

[FoxgloveFairy]

This leads me to a question. I'm a nurse, and work in a surgical ward. Often, if I have an elderly patient who is distressed and crying, I will hug them. Is that unprofessional?

[freelancegirl]

I seem to have had lots of random men kiss me unsolicited and one indeed was a plumber. He just came round to fix the boiler, never met him before, and kissed me on the cheek as he left! I was too shocked to say anything.

Then one time I had a regular taxi firm I used for a specific job and after a few weeks of the same guy picking me up he kissed me on the cheek and said - you don't mind do you. It happened again next time so I stopped using him. Felt uncomfortable.

And then, weirdly, the man in our local corner shop used to kiss me when I popped in for breakfast things on a weekend! It was really uncomfortable too and thankfully he must have sensed my discomfort and stopped after a while.

I'm pretty sure that, although I'm friendly, I don't do anything specific to encourage this sort of behaviour

[TurnOverTheTv]

I hugged my removal men the last time they were here, I've used them four times now and they are so much fun, they are ace

[wobblyweebles]

Yeah, I'd hug my plumber. He turned up on a Saturday a week or so ago with a tank of propane because I had run out and it was below freezing. When we had a small disaster in our house a month or so ago he turned up at an hour's notice and helped us fix everything. Because of his actions we got to spend the next week in our house rather than a hotel. Lovely guy.

[CallMeExhausted]

I baked a loaf of lemon poppyseed bread for each of the two plumbers last week who had to work at my house on Remembrance Day.

Without being asked, they downed tools and observed 2 minutes of silence at 11.

I felt compelled to thank them, but as they had been working on my sanitary line installing a sewer backup prevention valve, I wasn't in a hurry to be hugging them any time soon.

[Bulbasaur]

No, but I did give some out grown baby clothes to the guy that fixed our air conditioner since he did a good job and just had a baby.

[Bulbasaur]

This leads me to a question. I'm a nurse, and work in a surgical ward. Often, if I have an elderly patient who is distressed and crying, I will hug them. Is that unprofessional?

As long as it's consensual, I think that's a lovely thing to do. I was always grateful for compassionate nurses when MIL was in the hospital.

[thegreylady]

My son in law is our plumber so yes I have often hugged him :)

[londonrach]

I had a hug from about 10 of my regular patients yesterday which was a surprise but i am leaving and wont see them again. One of them gave me £2 for a drink too. HAve hugged a builder once at mil house after their sorted a huge problem.

[bigbluestars]

Good tradesman are worth their weight. I had a leak in my bathroom recently - the plumber was there with an hour, replaced a fitting and solved the problem. My bill a few days later was £12.50 which included VAT.

[RinkyTinkTen]

Yes, a lot as well as giving him lunch and a kiss on the cheek.

But then he is my BIL!

[Groovee]

I shagged my plumber

[Munchmallow]

Foxglove that's lovely, I'd be happy for you to hug me. I think it's perfectly acceptable and must be very reassuring and comforting for your patients

[youmakemydreams]

Foxglove I think it's lovely and probably much needed. I still remember a nurse sitting with me 16 years ago after an op and I woke up in the night crying and sore. She sat on my bed and hugged me until I'd cried it all out. I really needed that. I think nurses like you are worth their weight in gold.

I have hugged a delivery man. My mew phone had turned up a day early and I hadn't been in. He popped in by on his way home as it was half 5 on the off chance I was home to save me having to wait in for re delivery.

[mommy2ash]

I once hugged my daughter's teacher. my daughter and her friends still laugh at me about it. it was last day of term and she was leaving as she was only covering maternity leave and was crying buckets in the school yard i felt so bad for her so I just sort of pulled her into a hug. im not even the hugging type so I don't know what came over me.