I didn’t get my passport stamped

I am parked at our local airport, waiting for a flight to arrive. Sitting here, I think back to my time at the Helsinki airport. My husband and I had flown through Amsterdam and arrived in Helsinki. When we got off the plane, we followed the crowds to what we thought would be customs. But as we approached the baggage claim area, we stopped. Thinking we’d taken a wrong turn, we retraced our steps, looking for customs. We finally stopped at a desk with two women and asked them where we were supposed to be. They answered and told us that we didn’t need a stamp unless we wanted one. They sounded so incredulous that we would need to be processed that we were embarrassed to request the stamp at that point. We left as they both chorused Welcome to Finland.

This was my first experience with the high amount of trust present in the Nordic countries. This experience has stayed with me over the years. And this experience is not unique to the airport. People in the Nordic countries are so trusting of others that babies are left in their prams (strollers) outside of restaurants while the parents go inside to eat. As a mother, that is a big deal. Could you really trust everyone outside to not disturb your child? And do they have an eye on the baby while they’re eating? I would be so distracted trying to ensure the safety of my child that I wouldn’t get to enjoy my meal at all.

I obviously don’t place a high degree of trust in others. I can’t even trust the guy next to me on the road to stay in his lane. And I fully expect my children to do the exact opposite of what I’ve requested (although this is a pretty universal pattern).

How different, and more pleasant, would life be if we could actually put our trust in others. And have those people prove to be trustworthy? 

Is it even possible outside of the Nordic countries? Is this something that is unique to that area of the world? I don’t think it has to be.

I believe in my heart that people are more trustworthy than we give them credit for. Our culture is full of scary stories showing us how bad humanity is. And to be sure, there are bad people out there. But not all babysitters are going to molest our children. Drivers are not out to cause an accident. Most people, when given responsibility, step up to the challenge. It would stand to reason that when people are treated as trustworthy, they would therefore become trustworthy. 

If we can get past the stories and have a little more faith in humanity, we can begin placing our trust in others. And once we trust them, we can appreciate them for the decent, trustworthy people they are.

What did I learn from this?

Trust helps us to have faith in humanity. And having some faith in humanity helps us to see the good all around us.