I Trust You

This morning, my husband, Todd, asked me if I would take his watch to a jewelry store for a new battery. I was heading downtown to get groceries anyway, so could just drop it off on the way.

After spending more time trying to find a parking spot than it would have taken me to walk there, I stepped in the door of Hammel Jewelers on Water Street, the main street in our little town. The clerk (owner) stepped into the showroom when she heard the door open.

“Do you replace watch batteries here,” I asked.

“Oh yes,” she said. “Some days that’s all we do.”

I smiled and handed her the watch. I figured I would leave it and come back later. However, the woman disappeared into a room in the back with the watch, so I quickly determined that this was an immediate service kind of place.

She emerged from the battery changing room and called out to someone in the back to come down. Apparently, there was a strap over the battery and she didn’t feel comfortable messing with it. Her husband appeared momentarily and came out with the now-functioning watch minutes later.

He told me how much I owed, and I handed him my credit card.

“Oh – we can’t run credit cards for amounts less than $10,” he said.

“Well, I’ll just leave the watch here and go get some cash then,” I said.

“You can take the watch,” he said. “I trust you.”

I trust you.

Those three words made my heart sing. I had encountered something special here. A stranger trusting a stranger. Trusting that she will come back and pay later. Without doubt. And with a smile on his face.

In a world full of fear, greed, bitterness, and loneliness, this phrase “I trust you” is like an oasis in the desert. A ray of hope that things can be better.

I believe trust builds goodness. Every now and then, maybe we’ll be cheated. However, more often than not, putting trust in another person encourages him or her to do their best, to excel, to be good.

Thanks Hammel Jewelers for the reminder to trust – even when that trust is not yet earned.

If you liked what you read, please share it with your friends.