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Panel Questions

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

OK, panelists - some questions for you from the week's news. Amy, good news - as restrictions lift in New York state, weddings are now allowed. So you can let your hair down. You can enjoy a reception as long as everyone stays in their own 6-foot-by-6-foot area specially designated for what?

AMY DICKINSON: Six by - the chicken dance.

SAGAL: Well, dancing, yes. Dancing...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: ...Is the answer.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)

SAGAL: New York state has lifted its restrictions on weddings. So now the only thing to stop you from getting married is that feeling that there must be somebody else out there. But...

NEGIN FARSAD: (Laughter).

SAGAL: There are rules.

DICKINSON: You know, I'm a Methodist, so we have that anyway. So yeah...

(LAUGHTER)

DICKINSON: It's just more of the same.

MO ROCCA: So every wedding will be like an Orthodox wedding.

SAGAL: Exactly - no touching. No touching. There are rules. And like I said, guests will be assigned their own 36-square-foot dance zone that they have to stay in. What does remote grinding even look like?

FARSAD: (Laughter).

SAGAL: And the enforcement of this is going to be really difficult. Like, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. This area is not zoned for the hora.

ROCCA: Right? How do you get - or that chair...

SAGAL: Chair dance, exactly - what are you going to do at Jewish weddings, where you're supposed to haul them up in a chair? Now, there are other restrictions for your New York state wedding. You can have a maximum 150 guests. Oh, sorry, cousin Jerry (ph) - you were 151. And there's one weirdly specific rule. Nobody at a New York state wedding can take a damning photo of the governor getting handsy.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: How'd that get in there? Also - and this is true - there must be a 12-foot distance between any wind instruments. Well, think about it - a trumpet is basically a COVID bazooka. And also, the father-daughter dance will also be prohibited but just because it's weird.

DICKINSON: Yeah, that's so awkward.

SAGAL: It really is.

DICKINSON: That's the worst. Yeah.

ROCCA: Is it really that awkward? It's not as awkward as the right of prima nocti (ph).

SAGAL: It's true.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCCA: Hold on a second. A socially distanced prima nocti is just - it's just affectionate.

SAGAL: It really is. Just - it's just a kind way...

FARSAD: It's just a way - yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...

SAGAL: ...From the feudal lord to the virgin wife...

FARSAD: Blowing kisses.

SAGAL: ...On the night of the wedding.

ROCCA: I'm so glad that NPR is bringing back Latin.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DANCING ON MY OWN")

ROBYN: (Singing) Somebody said you got a new friend. Does she love you better...

SAGAL: Coming up, make yourself at home in our Bluff the Listener game. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to play. We'll be back in a minute with more of WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME from NPR. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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