Don't Trust Anyone With Teeth
My husband’s grandfather was a very successful businessman whose company helped build New York City. His advice to my husband was to never trust anyone with teeth.
As a modern cautionary tale of someone who has trusted far too many people with teeth, my husband is frequently pleading with me to heed his grandfather’s words. Despite my husband’s constant warnings, I often find myself misplacing my trust in someone with teeth.
Even my young son pinned a post-it note to my computer screen urging me to stop being so trusting:
Although I have this constant reminder staring me in the face on a daily basis, somehow I still end up trusting someone, somewhere with teeth. My achilles heel has spiraled so far out of control that I have now widened my net to even toothless people.
Some would label me a fool – as if being trusting is some kind of a character flaw. However, trustfulness is not synonymous with foolishness.
To be clear, I am not a sucker. I am an idealist. I seek truthfulness in people because that is what I choose to see. For my own psyche, I need to believe that I am sharing a planet with decent and trustworthy individuals.
It is I who does not want to live my life in constant distrust; always feeling suspicious of another’s motives.
It is I who made the conscious decision to pursue an existence believing that people – whether they have teeth or not – are inherently good.
I should not have to alter my belief system in order to accommodate the immoralities of others. I should not be the one forced to conform to their culture. It is they who should be respectful of mine.
Unfortunately, this is one of the many instances where idealism and reality conflict. Choosing to see good will never give rise to goodness. It only entices the charlatan.
Because succumbing to a bitter and mistrustful existence is not an option I’d like to explore, I have decided to protect myself by learning the law.
This was way I can “trust but verify” – only with greater assurances.
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