“Mazel Tov! It’s a boy!”
We were very excited to hear the wonderful news of our dear grandson’s birth, and immediately set to work searching for flights from our home in the Holy Land to our ‘alter heim’ in the United States.
After being effectively ‘grounded’ for nearly three years because of the coronavirus, I was not only looking forward to meeting this new grandchild and attending his bris, but likewise meeting another two-year-old grandson for the very first time, and getting reacquainted with our three daughters in the U.S. and their growing families.
That was indisputably the entire rationale for undertaking such an expensive, exhausting, and demanding trip at our age and stage. However, once we decided to embark on the grueling transatlantic journey and the subsequent coast-to-coast flights too, we found several minor justifications for undergoing that trek as well.
Suffice it to say that our middle daughter’s home in New Jersey (which I had incidentally never seen) had become an unofficial warehouse for three years’ worth of our Amazon, Carters, and Estee Lauder online purchases. We joked that our main purpose in traveling to the U.S. was to retrieve our accumulated packages, and our daughter was looking forward to our long-awaited visit mainly to finally get rid of all our stuff!
We had also planned to do some actual shopping in the ultimate consumer heaven aka the U.S. of A, mainly for our favorite chocolate and beverages that we had not tasted for three years: Baby Ruth, Fresca, and Diet Mountain Dew. The only other specific purchase we wished to make was to buy a plastic Bosch mixer bowl to replace the one I had recently cracked.
We had exchanged several 110-volt different model mixers that we received as wedding gifts forty-two years ago for one 220-volt Bosch mixer/blender that we still use today. Although it looks somewhat beat-up and past its prime (much like I do, come to think of it!) that old powerhouse is b’H still serving us well. It has required a few repairs and replacements over the years, but by and large it works remarkably well.
So when I cracked the third in a series of plastic mixing bowls a few months ago and was unable to find a replacement locally, I decided to continue using it with lots of caution and TLC until I could buy a new bowl in the U.S. I located the Bosch replacement parts website, placed the Universal plastic mixing bowl in my cart, and then put the transaction on hold while I shopped and packed for our upcoming trip.
However, instead of completing my online purchase within a few minutes once we arrived, I was dismayed to encounter any number of unfamiliar error messages, particularly the warning of potential credit card fraud. Despite numerous attempts over the course of a few days, I was unable to complete my transaction.
“I can’t believe this!” I lamented to my husband after yet another failed attempt to check out online. It was already the erev Shabbos after the bris and we were planning to leave our daughter in New York early Sunday morning and fly to our daughter in LA the following day. A few days after that we were scheduled to fly coast-to-coast again to spend our final Shabbos in the U.S. with our daughter in New Jersey, before our return flight to Israel on Sunday.
I was about to throw in the proverbial towel and concede defeat when I decided to check out the stores in the vicinity. And I almost fell off my chair when the map on the website showed me a location a mere twelve-minute drive from my daughter’s home in Monsey!
I dialed the number and asked whether they had the specific bowl in stock. The good news was that they did. The not-so-great news was that they were about to close. Hearing my dilemma, the nice fellow on the phone responded, “We’re closing at 12:30, but I’ll be here until one. Come right away!”
Needless to say we “did not pass Go, and we did not collect $200.” Instead we high-tailed it to the Bosch distributor, following Waze until we arrived some ten minutes later at a large factory/warehouse type facility with a mezuzah on the doorpost! When we entered we were greeted by the sight of an enormous area stacked floor to ceiling with shelves, boxes, and cartons of electrical appliances.
Two Chassidishe men were on their way out of the office, calling out “Gut Shabbos” as they headed for the door. Seeing our startled expressions, the young man at the computer explained, “We supply appliances and parts for the entire east coast!”
He then proceeded to find the bowl I required, first on the computer, and then in his inventory. We paid for it, exchanged good Shabbos wishes, and were back in my daughter’s house within half-an-hour of setting off!
The remainder of our trip was a veritable whirlwind of Dramamine, flights, stopovers, airport security, more Dramamine, visits to friends and family, and nachas. Lots and lots of magnificent, priceless nachas. The type and quality of nachas which no warehouse could ever begin to contain…
