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Wow, some of these questions remind me that this is an exercise aimed at people other than me.
I move through the world choosing to trust. There are certainly people I trust more deeply, but I'd rather assume most people are trustworthy.
A story.
Many years ago my friend Amy and I took a trip through England. While in a hostel somewhere in the west country we met a man named John who claimed to be traveling to ease a heart broken by his wife's death. He was a doctor, born in Scotland but with many years spent in Australia, his wife's home. She had died the year earlier. He had quit his job and was on walkabout, finding himself here, back in his country of birth.
He was a great storyteller, a bear of a man with sad eyes and a ready laugh. He drove us to several sites we wanted to see, we shared meals together and it was a lovely time. He said he needed money to keep going and, while we didn't have much, we gave him a few pounds. A week later we ran into him again, this time in London. We again had a jolly time and again, he asked if we could give him some money so he could keep going. He promised to pay us back, taking my address in the U.S. and giving me his in Scotland.
I never heard from him again.
I knew it was a risk when I gave him the money, probably no more than 40 pounds, but I chose to trust him. I would make the same choice again. I don't know the circumstances of his life beyond the stories he told us. If they were lies then they were well told and compelling, good stories. If they were true then it would be nothing less than cruel of me to hold his pain against 40 pounds.
I'd rather give people the benefit of the doubt, the gift of my trust, than assume they are lying. It almost always leads to a better story, anyway.
(c)2014 Laura S. Packer
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