The Extra Pacifier on the George Washington Bridge
A Waterbury family made a wrong turn on the way to Lakewood and found themselves on the George Washington Bridge — right next to a frum family whose crying baby needed exactly what had been placed in their van the day before.
A Waterbury family was traveling to Lakewood on a recent Friday.
The day before, they had bought a new package of two pacifiers. One was needed, and the second could easily have been left behind. But the wife, somewhat unusually, placed the extra pacifier in the van, thinking that perhaps they might need it.
On the way to Lakewood, they made a wrong turn and ended up heading toward the George Washington Bridge — not necessarily the route they would have chosen. When it happened, the husband remarked that he was sure there was a good reason.
Traffic on the bridge was moving slowly. As they sat there, they noticed another van near them, with a frum family inside. It looked like the people in the other van were discussing whether to ask them something.
Since traffic was barely moving, the Waterbury family slowed down, rolled down the window, and asked, “Do you need something?”
The man in the other van explained that their baby was crying hysterically. Did they, by any chance, have an extra pacifier?
They did.
The pacifier that had been placed in the van the day before “just in case” was tossed over to the family in the other van.
Before they parted ways, the other man asked for his name. He gave his name and mentioned that they lived in Waterbury.
About twenty minutes later, his phone rang. The man from the other van had contacted someone he knew in Waterbury, gotten his number, and called to ask how much he owed him for the pacifier.
The Waterbury man answered that he did not want payment.
“I’ll be selfish,” he said. “Let it be my zechus.”