“There is nothin’ safe in this world.” – Billy Idol

That last line – “there is nothin’ safe in this world” leads me to believe that Billy Idol is clairvoyant and saw 2020 coming way back in 1982. Whether he is or isn’t can be debated I guess, but one thing that can’t is that COVID-19 has just screwed everything up in 2020. It’s super annoying. It’s touched every aspect of our lives personally and professionally. It has ruined companies. It has ruined sporting events and concerts (including Billy Idol’s 2020 concerts), and movies and the theatre, and festivals. More importantly though it has taken lives and it continues to wreck havoc with families and friends around the world, and it probably will continue to do so until a reliable vaccine is released and the results are known.

Until that time, it’s social distancing and clean hands and masks in the restaurants and the supermarkets, and at sporting events, and most any social gathering. That includes weddings. I’ve attended two “COVID weddings” within the last two months. Both weddings were fairly “normal” events. And when I say “normal,” I mean they were both very reminiscent of pre-COVID weddings with the lone exceptions being the face masks and the increased use of hand sanitizer.

Otherwise, people you know and people who are complete strangers are still sitting next to each other at rehearsal dinner and at the wedding. People are still dancing next to each other, eating and drinking next to each other. There are still groomsmen and bridesmaids, and a first dance and a cutting of the cake. The bride still throws her bouquet over her shoulder to a group of single females all vying for the opportunity to catch it and be the next bride. The groom still takes the garter off of his bride’s thigh and shoots it in the air as all the single men who have been enjoying the free booze stumble over themselves to make the catch.

Like I said, pretty normal though bubbles has become a thing over the past five, ten years? I don’t know. I haven’t been paying that close of attention, but if you’re old enough to remember, then you’ll recall weddings where rice was the customary thing to throw as the lucky couple walked to their chosen mode of transportation waiting to whisk them away to a life of married bliss. A real mess if you think about it now. How many eye injuries happened because of people throwing rice at the couple? How many ears and open mouths were hit with rice? How much of that stuff got stuck in the bride’s hair or veil, or dress. The madness! What a terrible thing to throw. I had to research it, because I don’t know the origins of wedding traditions, but apparently the throwing of the rice signified rain which was to bring prosperity, fertility and good fortune to the couple, and which is why you were supposed to throw it up in the air, not directly at the couple. Who knew!? Probably a lot of people.

Anyway, one thing COVID hasn’t beaten or changed is love. L-O-V-E. People are still getting married in a pandemic. It may look a little different, but COVID is basically just that little, extremely annoying gnat hovering around Love’s face. Love just continues to wave it away, but you know eventually that little COVID gnat is not smart enough to leave love alone, and it’s going to get crushed. It’s just a matter of time. Ironically, even as I type this post in the living room of my home, there is a gnat that will not leave me alone. Those suckers are persistent.

Love in 2020 has driven us to think outside the box, to innovate, to stretch the limits, and despite the risks – to continue blowing bubbles. As the Good Book reminds us, “love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Love cannot be defeated, and it will continue to persevere, even in 2020.

“Come on. It’s a nice day for a white wedding.”

One of the two weddings I’ve attended this year has been of a couple with the last name White. The little ring-bearers even wore shirts to the rehearsal dinner the night before that said “Ring Security” on the front and “White Wedding” on the back. They did not, however, have Billy’s face anywhere on them.

Released in 1982, this is easily one of Englishman William Michael Albert Broad’s most recognizable songs. The now 65 year old, who performs under the stage name “Billy Idol,” has always been a favorite of mine with his bleach-blond hair, leather wardrobe, washboard abs, and his incessant snarl. In fact, his snarl with that upper left lip is to 80’s music as Elvis and his upper lip was to the 60’s.

In the iconic video featuring his real-life girlfriend at the time (Perri Lister), the singer is singing about watching the woman he loves marry someone else. It’s not really a pro-marriage song. “Little sister” is slang for “girlfriend,” and the song just happens to have the word “wedding” in the title. There’s a whole lot of damage to good kitchen appliances as well happening here. Regardless, get ready to work on that upper lip snarl and sing along with William.

I can’t wait until this pandemic is over, because I’ll be singing – “It’s nice day to… start again! Come on!”

Thanks for reading.

sincerely,

the 80’s