Some people are so closed-minded. "Cuddling is not recognized by most people as a legitimate profession like law or medicine, or even dog-walking," Oakland North writes in presenting Nikki Huiras. Huiras is indeed an East Bay-dwelling professional cuddlist, a member of the small, shall we say intimate field of caregivers who provide nonsexual physical contact to clients in exchange for money.

Huiras came upon the field when she saw a cuddlist herself to treat her depression and now she's paying it forward. Or, with the help of Cuddlist.com — no connection to SFist, Gothamist, et al. — Huiras is just getting paid — $80 an hour, it sounds like. The network of cuddle pros has this promo video so far. If you've seen the documentary Tickled, this may all terrify you. Or perhaps you'll be reminded instead of the Burning Man tradition of cuddle puddles. Those are different: They're free.