Trust, We Live By It
By: Hubert Crowell
We live in a world that is full of trust. As we hear more about all the things that we should do to
protect our identity and checking accounts, I began to think about the many times each day that
we trust someone else.
It is true that we should be careful with paper and items that relate to the security of our money.
But did you realize, that every time you deal with another person you are trusting them with some
part of your identity.
Whenever you make a purchase with a credit or debit card, you are trusting the person that you
hand your card to that they will not steal the information. We hear reports where waiters sell the
information from credit cards or swipe the encoded information into a private computer. I guess
that the only way to protect against this would be to not use the cards. If a check is given, it
could be even worse, the person could change the payee and amount and wipe you out. The
alternative is to carry enough cash to pay for everything with cash. But then you become a target
for robbery as soon as someone notices how thick your wallet is. It is hard to remove money
from a wallet without someone being able to see what you have.
I guess that I, like most people, prefer not to live in fear and trust other people. When I hand my
card to the waiter, I am saying that I trust them. When I write a check out to someone, I am
saying that I trust them. When I fill out an application that request my social security number, I
am trusting them. When I give my car keys to a parking attendant, I am trusting them with my
car and all that is in it.
I heard the other day that when you stay in a motel and they give you the plastic key card that it is
encoded with all of your credit card information and the information that you gave the motel. I
don't know if that is true or not. But when I return the key, I am trusting that the information
will not fall into the wrong hands. When you think about it, they have all the information
anyway, so we still have to trust them.
We place more trust in people that we do not know than in people we know. As a matter of fact
we trust everyone who has access to the Internet with a lot of personal information. Just try a
search using your name and you may be surprised. And just for a few dollars anyone can get a
background check on you or run a credit check giving them all the information about whom you
do business with.
When we drive the highways, we are trusting the other driver to stay on their side of the road.
When we take public transportation, we are trusting the bus driver or the pilot to take good care
of us. We trust the repair person not to rip us off and the retailer not to over charge us. You
cannot leave your house without trusting thousands of people each day.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that so many people are trusting you to?
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