I have always been very hesitant in trusting others. I’m not sure if I got this trait from my parents or if I learned it on my own, but I always think before trusting another person. I’ve always debated whether or not this was a good way to be. On one hand, it’s probably smarter not to trust other people, but on the other hand I really just want to hold onto the pure belief that people are always good. Regardless of whether this is a nature or nurture issue, or a good or bad quality I lost my key for about ten days and it forced me to trust everyone around me.
Waking up Sunday morning, I couldn’t find my key anywhere. My roommate and I had come in the night before and we both distinctly remembered that I was the one who had unlocked the door. I didn’t leave at all again that night so that meant that my key had to be somewhere in the dorm. I brushed off the issue at first, getting ready for the day and claiming that I would look for it after brunch.
My roommate locked our door behind us and we set out, unaware that that would be the last time our door locked for the next ten days.
The next morning I woke up an hour before my class, got ready, packed my bag and then tore the room to pieces. I dumped out my laundry bin, moved my dressers and even sorted through the trash in what ended up being a day-long excavation to find my key. However, after 45 minutes, the first leg of the 24-hour search had to come to an end. I was going to be late for my class.
I was extremely hesitant to leave the room to go to my classes. My roommate and I are friendly with almost everyone in the hall, but I hated the idea of people just walking into our room when we weren’t there. Who knew what they would do? They could steal stuff, or trash the place or leave us weird notes and we wouldn’t be able to figure out who left them.
My roommate didn’t seem to care about the room being unlocked at all. I marveled at her ability to come and go without fear of what other people could be doing. She just trusted them. I had tried to tell her that she could just lock the door anytime she left the room and leave me locked out until she came back because afterall it was my fault that I just didn’t have a key, but again she didn’t really care.
For the first few days, every time I walked into the room, I checked everything. I made sure nothing was stolen, moved or damaged. Time after time, there were signs that no one had been in there. Everyone in the hall had the ability to steal from us, and word travels fast so I’m sure they were aware of the issue, however, they didn’t.
After losing my key for the past ten days, I got to try being more trusting of those around me and I think that the positive results I got will have a lasting impact on my ability to trust others.