Trust Makes The World Go Round and I Hate It

We’re a trusting people. More than we’d like to admit. Even if you’ve got a tattoo with “Trust No One” on your face… let me ask you, face tatt man, did you watch the barista make your matcha latte? Or did you just trust them not to poison it? And if you have “Trust No One” on your face, why are you trusting someone to make you a coffee? Why didn’t you make it at home? And who did you trust to tattoo that on your face instead of a big ole peen for shits and gigs?

On & up.

We go about our days, assuming the organic fair-trade coffee shops don’t have evil agendas, the on-edge guy at work isn’t going to break (today), that captain road rage won’t swerve into our lane because they feel wronged by a necessarily swift merge, that whatever lunch we’re picking up for a quick on-the-go meal won’t be seasoned with dandruff, and the meat won’t be rubbed with… other meat.

Because what other choice do we have?

Are we going to spend our lives looking over our shoulders 24/7? Are we going to thoroughly review every shred of lettuce in our salad on a 30-minute lunch break? It’s a tough way to live.

What’s truly frustrating and a little horrifying is the trust we put into (or don’t put into) our government agencies—the larger picture societal standards that, individually, we have no control over. The trust we put into the FDA to ensure the food we’re eating and the fluids we’re drinking are safe and the companies producing them are not bribing officials to look the other way on the off chance there’s a little extra rat poo in our Doritos. And by bribe, I mean influence, and by influence I mean lobby. The faith we hand over to elected officials—at least half of which we didn’t vote for—to actually make decisions that are best for the people, rather than dick-swinging maneuvers that impress their party and benefit a select few while hurting the bunch.

I’m not saying that we actually trust these agencies or the strangers we come in contact with, I guess the point is what can we even do about it? That’s the frustrating part. The idea of democracy is that our voices are heard and they matter, but in a country of 400 million or whatever the fuck, it’s never going to truly feel like our singular voice is heard. Which is why community is so important.

Am I the only one having a momentary crisis on this matter? Will you join me in this anxiousness before totally deleting this thought from your brain and going about your day because you have things you need to do?

Fine.

Go.

Leave me.