A couple of days ago I booked an Uber Cab in Bangalore. The trip was a long one and we used a toll bridge to reach the destination faster. At the toll booth, as is normal I pulled out a Rs. 50 note to pay the charge of Rs. 45. As usual, the toll booth guy didnt have change of Rs. 5. The Uber driver, took 5 bucks from his pocket and gave it to the toll guy who in return gave a Rs. 10 note. The Uber driver handed me the Rs.10 note. I immediately pulled out a Rs. 5 coin and tried to give it to the driver but he...refused. He said "Its ok Sir."
This incident made me think. We think of pizza delivery guys, Uber cab drivers, Auto rickshaw drivers as people who intentionally dont keep change so that they may keep the small chances which we normally dont bother with. But there are people like my Uber Cab driver who do not behave the same way. Are we right in generalising them all? Why do we not trust those guys?
We put our lives in the hands of the drivers, the chefs, the traffic police, the maids, the pilots, the doctors everyday even if we have never met them before. Yet when asked the explicit question, "Would you trust them?", inevitably the answer comes in "No. I do not know the guy."
On the other side, many a times people we know very well are the ones who break our trust the most; Family, friends, colleagues, business partners and others. What is it that makes us trust them unquestioningly yet others, though trusty, do not have our trust? Why do they merit our trust without any such acts or deeds yet others we would not ever trust even if they have done deeds to gain trust.
Does this trust issue arise from our instinct of self-preservation? Does it stem from Social Status divide? Or is it just us, refusing to see realty, ensconced in our own definition of trustful people? Does it stem from past experiences which have changed our judgement forever?
Perhaps it boils down to the fact that all we need is just one incident to generalise a whole strata of society. By extension, a whole race, a whole country and a whole religion.
A close friend was someday an unknown person, whom we did not trust. Yet, we took a leap of faith and started a friendship. Why cannot we do the same with everyone?
Of course, there are anti-social elements. Yet why do we let them define our nature rather than making us value the positives more.
Some people are given a second chance, some even a third. Yet, we do not give some people even one chance before making a judgement about them. Is this a fault in us, our society or human kind?
As always I have more questions and no answers......
