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A Stranger Ruined My Wife’s US Citizenship Ceremony
An incident during the ceremony marred its memory for me
‘Get your kids out of here, they are ruining the ceremony for everyone,’ the man said menacingly. Shocked and furious, I picked up my son, grabbed my daughter’s hand, and left the room.
We left my wife Sasmita’s US Citizenship Oath ceremony to watch most of it from a hallway. Chastened and humiliated by a total stranger, rage burned inside me.
I will be the first to admit that my kids were misbehaving. They were poking each other with small American flags, would not sit still, and kept talking. But they are children, it wasn’t egregious. They didn’t touch anyone. They weren’t throwing things. They weren’t screaming or having tantrums.
They were bored and squirmy. There’s only so much I can do when explaining why ‘Mommy’s special ceremony’ is important. I have a toddler and a first-grader — they don’t care.
If I had the choice to leave them at home and attend by myself, I would have done so. But I’m immunocompromised, and Sasmita, Valentine, and Sonali all attend different schools. So that’s three separate exposures to viruses (COVID and otherwise) daily. Even though we’re all vaxed and boosted, we’re still uncomfortable with a babysitter.
