It used to be that, back in the day, you walked away from a wedding with a little box containing a piece of wedding cake, a tiny mesh bag full of Jordan almonds, and - if you were the lucky winner - the centerpiece from the table you were sitting at. More recently, the wedding favors have gotten a bit more substantial than the baglet of Jordan almonds: some item - picture frame, wine glass - embossed with the couple's names and the date of the happy event. (Fast forward and, what do you want to bet, 95% of these items end up in a yard sale.)
Some folks, of course, came away with something a bit more lasting and substantial: they met their spouse at a wedding.
But for the less than fortunate guests at the October Long Island nuptials of Cydnie Piscatello and James Rugnetta, what they may brought home with them is COVID.
Despite a state-ordered limit of 50 guests at a non-essential event, Cydnie and James were only willing and able to whittle their list down to 113 of their nearest and dearest.
Not surprisingly:
The wedding resulted in at least 41 coronavirus infections and prompted 159 people to have to quarantine, the Suffolk County Health Department said on Monday.
Gov. Cuomo’s office said at least 30 guests, three of the venue’s staff and a wedding vendor all tested positive...
In-person learning at several schools was also shut down, with at least five positive cases tied to the event. (Source: NY Post)
A restaurant where a couple of the guests worked had to close temporarily, and the wedding venue - North Fork Country Club - has had its liquor license suspended while it works through a number of violations its been charged with.
Serves. Them. Right.
Chances are, no one who went to the wedding will die. More than likely, the country club staff who became infected will be fine. Ditto the individuals at the school. While we don't yet know the implications of contracting COVID-19 are, the vast majority won't die. Many won't even experience much by way of symptoms. This will no doubt be true for the great majority of those who slurped down Cydnie and James' signature cocktail, enjoyed the beef-fish-vegetarian entree, toasted the happy couple with a bit of bubbly, teared up at the first dance (I'm guessing "At Last"), and ended up half-in-the-bag screaming "Sweet Caroline" or "We Are Family" or "Love Train" or "Shout" or "All the Single Ladies", or whatever it is the folks half-in-the-bag end up screaming at weddings on Long Island.
But given the state-of-the-art of contact tracing, we many never know whether someone who knew someone who went to the wedding gave it to their 85 year-old grandfather. Or their completely healthy 32 year-old aunt. Who knew she had an underlying medical condition? Darn the luck.
Then there's the health care worker, or cleaning person, or supermarket clerk who ends up on a slab a few COVID begats down the line.
Just what were Cydnie and James thinking when the went ahead with their wedding?
Did they somehow convince themselves that this event was essential? Had they pared down a bulging guest list for their dream wedding, and so thought that they were already making a supreme sacrifice? Did they gauge the odds and tell themselves that, hey, they and their friends aren't Black or brown or sickly or in nursing homes, so what are the odds?
There are words for folks like Cydnie and James. Selfish. Self-centered. Entitled. Clueless.
I guess if you've spent your entire life poring over Brides Magazine, canceling your celebration, or even modifying it much, is unthinkable. If the "big day" is so built up it matters more than what you're actually doing - stepping up and saying this is the person I'd like to spend the rest of my life with - the sacrifice must seem way too great to ask. Especially if you're betting that you and yours aren't likely to get really sick, let alone die.
I hope Cydnie and James are good and humiliated. I hope they're ashamed. I hope no one dies because of their recklessness, but I also hope that when they look at the video of their happy day, it's just a little spoiled by feelings of guilt.
SMH. What is wrong with people?
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And don't get me going on those parents in Rolla, Missouri, who sponsored a secret homecoming dance for their high schoolers so the kids wouldn't be disappointed. Kee-reist! If you can't cope with not being able to go to a high school dance, how are you going to deal if something authentically bad happens to you?
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