Woman Who Makes A Living From Hugging, Opens Professional Cuddling Shop

This Oregon woman is conveniently paying her bills by cuddling with
people all day. It might not sound or look like much of a career
choice, but take it or leave it, Samantha Hess is making a decent
living out of hugging. Within a week of opening her store which she
named 'Cuddle Up To Me,' she has already gotten requests from up to
10,000 customers! Oddity Central has more:

Samantha charges her clients (who must be above 18 years of age) $1
per minute of cuddling in one of four themed rooms at her store. She
also provides remote services by travelling to locations of her
clients' choice. She calls it a method of self-taught therapy through
which she helps people feel loved and get comfortable with the
physical touch. The snuggles are strictly platonic, of course, and she
signs an agreement with her customers to be clean, courteous and to
keep their clothes on at all times.

"There are no upgrades, no additional services," the 30-year-old
insisted. "I'm not interested in that. It's about making people feel
worthy of who they are today. I love knowing that people know that
they are accepted, and they aren't going to be alone anymore."

A typical cuddling session with Samantha lasts one hour, but clients
are welcome to book appointments as short as 15 minutes, and up to a
maximum of five hours. There are four to six different positions to
choose from, either on a bed or a couch.

She said that the couch helps people who are aren't very comfortable
with touch and don't know how to incorporate it into their world.
Sometimes, she might not even touch her customer, but just sit close
to them and read out loud. "Each person gets to guide their own
session in that way," she explained.

And for safety reasons, all the rooms are equipped with cameras and
all the sessions are recorded in case of any misbehavior. She also
provides a consultation for new clients before their their cuddling
sessions begin.