Blind Trust

Growing up, my dad was a very trusting individual and always took peoples' words at face value. My mom on the other hand was always suspicious of everything. Having these mixed views bestowed upon me (blind trust or constant mistrust as I like to call them), I have realized that trusting people is extremely important in making the world a better place and being suspicious is important in protecting yourself from the sometimes seemingly cruel world. Even though there is that well known quote of "no good deed goes unpunished", what would the world be if no one did good deeds? Honestly, it is not a world that I could or want to imagine.

It was about a year ago during the middle of winter and the day had started off like any other Saturday had. I slept in without setting an alarm to wake me up and got up feeling refreshed. But not too refreshed because I have yet to have my morning coffee. I got dressed and went out on my usual walk to the near by Tim Hortons to purchase my morning coffee. (On an off tangent note, I thought that I would mention that Tim Hortons is a very popular coffee chain in Canada, as I realize it might not be as well known or known at all in other countries.) As I was near the entrance, there was a lady standing right outside and she said something to me. I didn't really hear her exact words but I thought I caught the words "baby formula". So I asked her to repeat herself and this time she said, "Would you be able to buy me some baby formula." I was used to people standing outside this Tim Hortons asking its patrons for things but it was usually money or a coffee from Tim Hortons. But I was not used to people asking for baby formula. It was kind of upsetting to be honest; imagine having to stand outside in the cold, asking random people to buy baby formula for you so that you can feed your child. So I told her ok, we can go to the store after I get my coffee (as I am reflecting on this, I realized that I didn't ask her if she wanted anything. I should have but it is too late so oh well). Once I came out with my coffee, we started walking together to a nearby store. She held out her hand and introduced herself to me and I did the same. She said that she has been there all morning and I was the first person who stopped for her. It is crazy to think that no one else had heard her asking for baby formula in passing, though, it is more likely that they did but chose to ignore it. She told me that she had a baby at home and is currently pregnant with another and she also is taking care of a two year old who was the child of her husband and his drug abusing ex. I know there are loads of stories out there of people making up stories like these in order to garner sympathy and get money, but at that moment, I believed her. It helped a little due to the fact that she did looked very pregnant at the time and that she had a mini freak out when she almost slipped on the ice as that could've been bad for the baby she was carrying. She then continued to explain that she normally doesn't do this because she gets benefits from the government but for some reason there was a delay in getting her payment this month and she was told that she will get it next month. But obviously that didn't work for her because now she didn't have money to buy formula for her baby. When we finally arrived at the store and were looking at the formula section, they only carried one brand. The lady said that she couldn't get that brand because she had tried it before and it made her baby constipated. Well then, something I didn't need to know but okay. So I asked her where she usually bought her baby formula and she said Walmart. But I knew that there wasn't a Walmart within walking distance, and I was not sure what to do that point. I was literally thinking about driving this stranger in my car to Walmart to get this baby formula. But then she spoke again and asked if I can just buy her one of those visa gift cards. At this point the part of me my dad had brought up said, "Yes, do it" while the suspicious side my mom had instilled in me said, "No, it is clearly a scam". After a few moments of internal debate, I grabbed a $50 visa gift card from the shelf and purchased it for her. She smiled and thanked me for it and we parted ways; she, seemingly heading back to the Tim Hortons and me, heading home. Even though I will never know for sure if she really used the money to buy her baby formula or not, I firmly believe that she did. In the end, it isn't like the fifty dollars broke my bank, and in the very good chance that she was telling the truth, I did the right thing. I still wonder from time to time how her new baby is and how her and her other kids are doing.