Trust

Trust is an issue for many. You have to be able to trust your family, your doctors, your lawyer, your minister, your teachers etc. I guess we all have to trust each other. So as an administrator and as a teacher, part of what I do must be to insure trust in me. It has to be in what I say, and what I do. I may be wrong many times, but I should give the best answer I know and if wrong, admit it.

As an employer of many, and over the years I have been the employer of hundreds of people, I must have their trust in order to insure a successful working relationship. Again, if wrong, I may be an idiot, but always it’s been important to me to be an honest idiot!

Many years ago I was in a situation where I was selling a house and buying a house in a different state. The timing was such that I needed a swing loan, and my banks, being in different states, could not easily (at that time ) work together on this one. A deal is not a deal until it’s done.

I asked my mother (one hell of a choice for a financial advisor) what she thought I should do. She suggested that I ask my Aunt who may have enough cash to front a one month loan for me. My mother was a bit over the top on the details of my situation, and even though I assured her I was good for it, she did have concerns. After all I was changing jobs and residences and what if something went wrong? I knew the chances but what do you do, and besides, you have to trust me, everyone else does.

I called my Aunt and pleaded my case and she was very kind and loaned me the money for a month or two. I paid her back at the appropriate time and she never charged me interest, she was family. Now, if you are family and reading this, don’t ask, I’m trustworthy, not loaded.

I would have probably forgotten such a fine gesture, but when my mother died, I was reminded of this good deed. My mother, a forty year insurance company employee, had changed her life insurance policy when my Aunt made me the loan, and made my Aunt her beneficiary, just in case I never paid her back!

All the paperwork was included in my mothers papers at the time of her death. As soon as I paid my Aunt back, (a month or two later) she reinvested me in her riches!

Trust is a funny thing. My mother just didn’t trust me (too much).

I will sit on no psychiatrists or psychologists couch because of this one. OK, I will sit on my daughter-in-laws couch (the psychologist) but as a guest, not a patient!

It’s a funnier story that a condemnation, although I have no idea what I would have done if something hadn’t worked out. My glass is never half empty!

Besides, you gotta' trust me!