Trust Issues and Skepticism

Why are we on the defensive so much?  Why can't we trust the good in people?  Why do we always have to be on alert?

What happened to handshake deals and a basic "good will" towards another?

I'm going to share a story about a real life scenario.  I was at the airport waiting to board our plane.  It was "on time" but it was also 2 minutes to boarding and no plane in sight.  Our group was sitting together when an older gentleman with a prosthetic leg (who I'd seen earlier) came up and asked if we were a ministry in Haiti.  Duh.  The matching green shirts and flight to Port Au Prince kinda gives it away.   He said he was going to visit his daughter who lives and does missionary work in Haiti.  But he lost is baggage ticket which is helpful to have in PaP.  He was going to go to the trash can and look for it and have to come back through security.  He said he didn't want to carry his bags because they were heavy and cumbersome, there was a starter to a ford ranger in one them that barely made it through security the first time.  Naturally, we said we'd watch them since we are good people.  Besides, our plane wasn't even at the gate yet, even though it was still "on time" and we were supposed to be boarding.

He left quickly.

After about 30 seconds we thought about the situation more.  This was a stranger.  His bags barely made it through security.  He said he was leaving the secure area to look for his baggage claim tag.  He played us.  He's got a bomb in here and we're gonna take the fall.  He used the good natured ministry team to use so he could get out of there.  Maybe he lost his leg in his last terror attack.

I know...the odds of that being real were minimal.  He came back unsuccessfully about 15 minutes later.  The plane still hadn't arrived at the gate yet.

But it really made me think about how you handle a situation like that.  Obviously we want to be nice.  None of us had any problem watching his bags.  But what do they tell you at the airport all the time?  Never take a bag from a stranger.  So I feel like we should have said no.  Explain that we are sorry and can't be responsible for bags we are unaware of the contents of.  Those are the rules.

What are some other examples were doing the nice thing could get you into trouble?

It is really sad that we always have to be on guard for people that may have ill intent.  I think we have to keep up a certain level of skepticism.   But I don't like that we have to.