June 15, 2009

• Trust

  Ron Thornburgh, Kansas Secretary of State, recently gave a speech which I attended.  It it, he gave the story of his experience of hosting a seeing-eye dog puppy.  This puppy destroyed “every good stick of furniture a young married couple owned”, but after eighteen months, he absolutely loved this puppy.  At first, he was devastated when the agency called back, wanting this puppy back to train.  Then, Mr Thornburgh attended the puppy graduation, equipped with his camera and best suit and sitting in the front row because “hey, I didn’t have any kids”.  And while this puppy remained in his mind as the lovable monster that turned his living room furniture into splintered ruins, the second that puppy had on his lead and was given to a blind boy, and those two walked across the stage, Mr Thornburgh’s view changed.  That puppy and boy were one; they were a team.  The dog trusted implicitly that the boy would feed him and love him; the boy trusted that the dog would never lead him into danger, would trust him as his eyes.

  Later that week, I went to the capital in Topeka to debate bills in the Senate Chambers.  A recess was called and I walked out into the hall and decided to buy a bottle of water from a little stand.  I handed the cashier the bottle, and after a moment realized he was blind.  “What to we have today,” he asked politely, smiling and looking over my shoulder, as if seeing someone else there.  I told him a bottle of water, and gave him a $5 dollar bill.  I then told him it was a $5, and he gave me the correct change.  I sat back and drank some of my water, watching a few other girls from my group and the real Senate President in similar transactions.

  The cashier must have more trust than anyone in the capital.  To trust that no one was taking advantage of him, that no one was stealing from him.  Then again, even in a place like the Capital Building, I’m sure it has happened before.  And that money he lost may have came out of his own pocket.  Yet he still works and trusts and is kind…

  Mr Thornburgh had concluded his speech with a thought.  Just a small thought that stuck into my mind like an unruly piece of gum under a school desk; growing attached until even the most skilled could not remove it with any force.  “Think of the trust between the man and his dog,” he smiled, “now, imagine if everyone in America had just a shred of that trust.  Imagine what America could accomplish.”  If Americans trusted and relied upon eachother as the cashier relied upon others, trusted in the honesty of their fellow Americans – Mr Thornburgh was right – this would be a truly amazing nation.

  Do your part and trust your neighbors.  Trust in their word and good intentions, unless and until they give you any reason not to, or betray your trust.  And you yourself – be a person whom others can trust, can rely on.  Have the integrity to do the right thing, even when nobody is watching.

   

  M

  • 10:39 pm
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