Francesca Rudkin: Bring on the hugs and humour

So the game might not have gone their way this morning, but how gorgeous were the Black Ferns this week?

Once again being themselves, on the world stage. I’m sure you saw the video or photos of the Black Ferns women’s rugby team and King Charles III after Ayesha Leti-I’ga asked if she could give the King a hug. After the King gave his consent to this serious breach of protocol - the whole team got in on the act. It was a hug bomb, a scrum, and it elicited joyous smiles from all involved.

Especially the King. Who is looking more and more like his mother every day.

Since then, there’s been numerous articles about the power of a hug. We know hugs reduce stress, they relieve pain, they make us happy, they build bonds, and resilience. Basically hugs are good and we need to be doing more of them.

So thanks to the Black Ferns for making us want to hug it out. But we owe them another thanks - and that’s for their beautiful ability to remind us what it is to be Kiwis. I’ve always thought us to be a cheeky, positive, self-motivated, open lot with a self-deprecating sense of humour. In fact, humour is part of our DNA - especially during difficult times.

When writing about defining our sense of humour, our finest satirist John Clarke would tell the story of the New Zealand division who during the second World War won the battle for the city of Trieste in northern Italy, against a retreating German Army.

The Americans arrived after the battle had finished and the fighting had been done by the New Zealanders. Once the city was secured, the US Army decided a victory parade was in order – to be led by the US Marines. The Americans were running the Italian campaign after all.

So the parade went ahead, and out in front came the US Marines with a large banner bearing their emblem and the words 'US Marines. Second to None'. Behind them marched the New Zealanders carrying a large sheet upon which was written the word 'None'.

That’s ‘Kiwi’ right there. But we seem to have misplaced that ‘Kiwi’ sense of humour and joy recently. I’m not saying times aren’t tough for some. I’m not saying there aren’t things for us all to be worried about. But I am saying that you can’t wait for nothing to be wrong to decide to be happy, or at least to lighten up a bit.

It’s time to stop letting people get under our skin. Social media is masterful as this. So are politicians. They aim to agitate us as a way to motivate us. Maybe we should take a leaf out of Kamala Harris’s playbook and just raise an eyebrow, smile and laugh when people start poking at us.

New Zealand is facing real challenges. We all know this. Positivity, solutions, disagreeing agreeably, and a sense of humour is what will make meeting those challengers bearable. That, and maybe a hug.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
So the game might not have gone their way this morning,
but how gorgeous were the Black Ferns this week, once
again being themselves on the world stage. I'm sure that
you have seen the photo or videos of the Black
Ferns women's rugby team and King Charles the Third, after
Asia Lettyinger asked if she could give the King a hug.
After the King gave his consent to the serious breach

(00:35):
of protocol, the whole team got in on the act.
It was a hug bomb, a scrum, and it elicited
joyous smiles from all involved, especially the King, who was
looking more and more like his mother, isn't he? Since then,
there's been numerous articles about the power of a hug.
We know hugs reduce stress, they relieve pain, they make
us happy, they build bonds and resilience. Basically, hugs are

(00:59):
good and we need to be doing more of them.
So thanks to the Black Ferns for making us want
to hug it out. But we owe them thanks, and
that's for their beautiful ability to remind us what it
is to be Kiwi's. I've always thought us to be
a cheeky, positive, self motivated, open lot with a self

(01:19):
deprecating sense of humor. In fact, humor is part of
our DNA, especially during difficult times. When writing about defining
our sense of humor, our finest satirist John Clarke would
tell the story of the New Zealand Division, who during
the Second World War won the Battle for the city
of Three Stay in northern Italy against a retreating German army.

(01:44):
The Americans arrived after the battle had finished and the
fighting had been done by the New Zealanders. Once the
city was secured, the US Army decided a victory parade
was in order, to be led by the US Marines.
The Americans were running the Italian campaign after all, So
the parade went ahead, and out in front came the
US Marines with a large banner daring their emblem and

(02:07):
the words US Marines second to None. Behind the march
the New Zealanders carrying a large sheet upon which was
written the word none. That's kiwi right there. But we
seem to have misplaced that kiwi sense of humor and
joy recently. And I'm not saying times aren't tough for some.
I'm not saying there aren't things for us to be

(02:29):
worried about, but I am saying that you can't wait
for nothing to be wrong to decide to be happy
or at least lighten up a bit. It's time to
stop letting people get under our skin. Social media is
masterful at this, so are politicians. They aim to agitate
us as a way to motivate us. Maybe we should
take a leaf out of Kamala Harris's playbook and just
raise an eyebrow, smile and laugh when people start poking

(02:51):
at us. New Zealand is facing real challenges. We all
know this. Positivity solutions, disagreeing agreeably a sense of humor
as what will make meeting those challenges bearable. That, and
maybe a hug.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen
live to News Talks at B from nine a m Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio