Trust Me....Really

So here is something that strikes me as odd.....trust.  I've heard many times throughout my life "I don't trust easily" or "It takes me a while for someone to earn my trust."  I'm sure for some people this is true when it comes to relationships, but have you ever thought about how many strangers you trust on an every day basis?

Okay, so hear me out on this one.  I was driving in the car to my in-laws last week and another of my unusual random thoughts hit me as some jackwagon whizzed by us at the speed of "seriously too bloody fast".  Yes, that guy is unsafe, and a jackwagon as I clearly stated previously, but what about that car behind me....or that one over there....or that one?  All of those folks are driving along like normal every day people.  And her I am in my car with my entire family, driving along in the mix of all of them.  Hummm.....do I trust them?

Until that instant, I really had never thought about it, but to a certain degree, we must all trust each other in order to get into our cars and drive around.  That's a lot of trust to project on a bunch of perfect strangers!  And that, of course, got me thinking, what other kinds of random acts of trust do I just toss out there on an every day basis.

Well, there are the teachers at my kiddo's school. Sure, as we've clearly established I'm an active PTA mom and I live in a bubble, but still...I don't know ALL of the teachers, but to an extent, I trust them because I send my baby there every day.  I trust they've all been trained and in case of an emergency, will protect my child as if she was their own.

The local paper must trust all of us because they still put 50 papers into that machine and believe everyone will put in money and take only one.  The kids in my neighborhood trust each other because they leave their bikes all over the place and no one every touches them.  The library trusts me to check out a book and bring it back in the same condition as when I found it (sure, they can charge a fine, but really if you won't bring back a book, what are the odds you'd pay your find).  I even trust the person taking my food order and bringing me food.

Now sure, if you're looking for a new doctor or hair stylist, odds are you'll ask around.  But think about how many of us read reviews online left by people we've never laid eyes on.  We trust that their opinions are valid and the online ratings system is now a staple in all areas of our life.

I dunno, maybe it's not as mind boggling to everyone else, but I just find it interesting to see how much trust we as a society still place on each other, considering all you hear about on the news is the bad stuff.  Maybe it's because I'm a trusting person by nature or an eternal optimist, but I'd like to trust that we're not all that bad after all.