As we take a stroll in the gardens of Saadabad palace, I kiss happy gal on the lips as I normally do wherever I am in the world. As soon as she sees us, our future sister-in-law yells at us: “What are you doing? You will get us in trouble!” Little did we know that it is illegal to show affection in public beyond holding hands, even if you are married. This simple kiss could have led to a possible arrest and a huge fine if the right people had witnessed it (sepah – religious social police branch).
The day before we had visited happy gal’s dad’s grave in a very religious city named Qom with happy gal’s uncle. As we were leaving the cemetery and heading to a restaurant, I was hugging and kissing happy gal to give her comfort. I was holding her as we were waiting to cross the street and kissed her forehead, cheeks, and lips. Man, were we lucky we did not get in trouble with the law!
