I felt very self-conscious when I first started carrying. One of the first public places I went while carrying was to the DMV, where the place was packed with hundreds of people, and I felt like every eye was on me when I walked through the door. I kept tugging on my shirt tail every few minutes to make sure it wasn't hanging up on my gun--I probably looked rather suspicious doing that!
I can relate to Jason and the hugging thing. I don't carry whenever I go to a family gathering, because I know that somebody will end up squeezing me right on top of my gun.
To this day nobody in my family knows that I carry, even though I work with them, and therefore see them every day in the office.
I wonder if they're curious why I always straighten my shirt tail every time I get out of my chair.