A matter of trust

Hi neighbors. Who do you trust? My guess is most of you will say your family, close friends, or some people you work with.

Many might suggest their health care professionals as people they trust. Not just the doctors and nurses, but the clerks and accountants who do the billing.

Most of us wouldn't think about businesses we do business with every day. Not because we don't trust them, but because that trust is a given -- assumed -- especially with a bank.

Accidents happen, and no person is perfect. Since banks are run by people, problems sometimes occur. I suppose the real miracle is that more mistakes don't occur more often than they do!

I've banked with one bank for a couple of decades now and have never had a problem with the service. Actually, the people at my bank have done more than their job requires guarding my accounts and offering services as needed.

However, I was recently shocked when I received my bank statement. Not that there was any thing unexpected in the bank statement -- there was not. It was my typical checking account statement.

The shock was where the bank statement came from. It came from a lady I didn't know; but who knew how to do the right thing. Thank you Wilma! It seems Wilma was mailed my bank statement along with her own.

I am grateful she returned it, and very grateful that she is an honest person and was as shocked as I was when she found it in the envelope with her own.

Like most people, I don't pay a lot of attention to my bank statements other than balancing the numbers with my checkbook.

But, after knowing my bank statement had wandered off course, I looked at it a little closer. You might ask, what is on a checking account bank statement anyway? What difference does it make who sees it?

Well, I suppose it depends on how trusting you are in your neighbors. I got lucky this time and my confidential information landed in a safe place.

First, my full name and address is on the statement; then my checking account number.

Since all my salary checks are automatically deposited, where I work, in what position and my salary amount is also listed.

It shows I have a debit card (that I use too often) and it shows the number of the last check I wrote.

The routing number for my bank is available and a facsimile of my signature.

My insurance company's name is listed along with the premium I pay.

This might not seem like so much information for honest people reading this, but trust me -- a crook could use this information to take money out of my account, charge things to my account and possibly wipe out the entire account in nothing flat with little effort.

But then again, my bank knows me well and they would call me before honoring any questionable transactions.

Even with this one mistake, I trust my bank...and Wilma!

Trust is something we might take for granted. A lot of our social values are built around being able to trust others in our local community and around the world.

We trust that most people are honest and want to do the right thing. We trust that our government officials know what they are doing and we trust that our elected representatives are doing the best they can with our best interests at heart.

We trust our doctors to know enough about medicine to help keep us well or make us well again after illness or injury.

We trust our spiritual leaders to be intimately familiar with our books of faith.

We trust that if our car breaks down on a lonesome highway, the family in the house we approach to ask for help, or the driver who pulls over to offer assistance; are "regular" folks and not psychopathic murderers.

We trust teachers to teach well in schools that we trust to be safe and effective learning environments.

We trust a lot. Why do we trust? Most of us trust in those we have discovered through experience to be trustworthy. But sometimes we just trust in someone or something because society tells us they are worthy of our trust. Sometimes that is our only option -- particularly where elections are concerned.

Once in a while, our trust is shaken; sometimes it is actually broken -- and that is difficult to restore.

Until the next time, friends, remember there are many areas in our lives where "trust" is assumed and/or taken for granted whether it has been earned or not.