Opinion Hug police at airport — are they really enemies of love?

There is more to a New Zealand airport’s attempt to limit goodbye hugs to three minutes than meets the eye

The real question is how Dunedin Airport arrived at the specific duration of three minutes for a hug.

October 24, 2024 07:53 AM IST First published on: Oct 24, 2024 at 07:16 AM IST

Sorry, as Elton John sang, may very well be the hardest word, but a close second is goodbye. Who knows when that night might come when the same two ships pass each other again? It’s no wonder that people tend to linger over their parting, stretching it out into farewell parties and dinners, drawing out those last few moments to postpone, if only for a second or two more, the pangs of parting.

It’s an all-too universal experience, yet New Zealand’s Dunedin Airport is having none of it, going by a sign in its drop-off zone: “Max hug time 3 minutes. For fonder farewells, please use the car park.”

Photographs of the terse sign have been widely shared this week, eliciting outraged questions about how far an airport could go to ensure a smooth flow of traffic, people and their belongings, with its “hug police” and violation of travellers’ “human rights”. Officials have been quick to disclaim any actual measure to time people’s hugs — no uniformed buzzkill will be hanging around the drop-off zones with a stopwatch.

The sign is more a suggestion and less an injunction, a reminder to those lingering over their adieus to be mindful of the fact that airports are busy places where the slightest hold-up by one person can end up derailing someone else’s vacation plans.

The real question, however, is how Dunedin Airport arrived at the specific duration of three minutes for a hug. Were travellers interviewed and studies conducted at the airport? In any case, the airport’s CEO pointed to research that shows a 20-second hug is more than sufficient for a hearty dose of the feel-good hormone oxytocin. He also pointed out that the quicker the hugs, the greater the number of people who can experience them. So, far from being the enemy of love that it’s been painted as, the airport just wants to spread the love around a bit more.

Can one really complain about this?