Thirty years ago I was selling a car and this really nice man came to look at it. It was to be a gift for his wife and he drove it and paid me full price and later returned with his wife and drove it away.
It was a Saturday and he paid by check. Back in those days there wasn't an ATM depository or debit card safety net. Banks had, well, banking hours: 10am to 3pm M-F. People thought I was some kind of crazy to hand my only asset over to a total stranger.
I waited for the bank to open on Monday and the check was good, just as I expected. So here we are in this day and age with all the same cautionary tales of people being taken for a ride, or worse. But I am still unconvinced. Last year I again sold a car to a really nice man from CraigsList with no money down.
What is up with me? I remain unsullied by that thick outer layer of mistrust that others seem to wear. I believe in people and have total faith and optimism in their goodness.
But then again I like knowing the French are nicer than their reputations and that people mostly honor their promises. I like believing that when life knots up it will eventually untangle itself. I like people responding with reciprocity. I like being right most of the time.
It's true that trust has caused some of the most excruciatingly painful and heartbreaking times of my life. But when all was said and done, Love and Faith prevailed with Optimism intact. So let me just sprinkle a little of it that over here, and savor the gratefulness of it, even the scars.
And that my dear, is why I love you.
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