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APRIL/MAY 2016
THE BRIDGEWATER-SOMERVILLE CONNECTION
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ORDER TODAY! Visit our website to see all our arrangements of chocolate-coated pretzels, cookies and bark with customizable coating & wrappings Alexa Bisignano 908.334.3531 www.pretzables.com Alexa@pretzables.com We customize for any occasion, event, or party Bridal/Baby Showers • Corporate Gifts Father’s Day • Graduations and more! As Seen on “Good Day New York” In the early 90’s, a friend of mine in the financial services industry suggested that my wife and I invest a couple thousand dollars from our IRA retirement accounts in shares of an “up and coming” New Jersey based company. About ten years ago, a local guy became the head of the company. Our wives had met some time ago but the chances were low that our paths would ever cross as we worked in very different industries. A few years ago, I was doing some errands in Warren on a Sun- day morning. Normally, I zip around from one place to another, grab- bing a cup of coffee, along the way. On this particular day, I was more hungry than usual so I decid- ed to stop into a bagel shop in town. I can count on one hand the number of times I have patronized this shop on a Sunday morning, as it is packed with customers at that time. After waiting in line for about fif- teen minutes, I ordered my “every- thing” bagel, toasted with cheese. About five minutes after that my sandwich was ready. Usually I would head back to my car to con- tinue with my “to do” list. Howev- er, I was hungry to begin with, and after the total wait time of over twenty minutes, my stomach was having a rather loud conversation with me. The shop had very few tables and chairs but there was one small booth open. So I slid into that to consume my sandwich. Someone had left a newspaper on the table. Since I had invested a relatively long time in this stopover, I figured I would browse the paper, taking my time to eat in a civilized way rather than simply inhaling the food. I was scanning the headlines, reading what I could, as I didn’t have a pair of reading glasses with me. I can’t remember which paper I was reading but it was magazine- like in size, so between bites I flipped the pages. Eventually I got to a small business section, with an abbreviated listing of stock prices, which did include public companies headquartered in New Jersey. Stock symbols and prices are printed with increasingly smaller point sizes in newspapers that still publish them. I had to squint to focus on them, using a finger as a pointer to help me. I stopped on the symbol for the company that had been recommended to me so long ago, just to see how it was doing. I actually leaned over to focus over the top of my finger. Guess who walked in the door at that moment? Those of you familiar with this column can anticipate the answer. The head of the company walked in with one of his children. He entered the long line of customers. After I finished my bagel, I introduced myself and tried to explain that we were destined to meet in this way. AN APPETITE FOR A CONNECTION By: Dan Rosenberg www.theconnectionsnj.com