My parents spent years teaching me one very important lesson: Never trust strangers.
It was a simple rule. Don’t get into cars with strangers. Don’t give strangers personal information. Don’t follow strangers. Don’t accept things from strangers. Sound advice. Then I became an adult and discovered that modern society is built almost entirely on trusting strangers.
Think about it.
When you go to a restaurant, a complete stranger walks up to your table, introduces themselves as your server, and within an hour you have handed them your credit card, consumed food they didn’t cook but delivered, and trusted that nobody disappeared into the back room to purchase a jet ski with your debit card.
We don’t think twice about it. In fact, if they disappear for ten minutes, we aren’t worried about our financial future. We’re worried about whether they remembered the extra ranch dressing. Then there’s food delivery. A person we have never met accepts an order through an app. They know our name. They know our address. They know where we live. They know when we’re home. They know what we’re having for dinner. And we sit there staring at a tiny car icon moving across a map thinking: “Please don’t forget my fries.” Not: “Why am I giving this information to a complete stranger?” No. We’re concerned about condiments.
Then we have rideshare services. For decades, parents warned their children: “Never get into a car with a stranger.” Today, we push a button on our phones, watch a stranger arrive, verify that the license plate matches the app, and climb in like we’re old friends heading to a baseball game. Apparently the phrase “Don’t get in cars with strangers” expires at age eighteen. Of course, it doesn’t stop there. We trust GPS. Think about that for a moment. A calm electronic voice tells us: “Turn left.” We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t know the neighborhood. We don’t know if we’re heading toward a scenic route or the opening scene of a horror movie. Yet we obediently turn left because a British woman living inside our dashboard told us to.
Then there are online reviews. You’ve done it. I’ve done it. A complete stranger named “BigDog1987” gives a product five stars and suddenly we’re convinced it’s the greatest purchase since indoor plumbing. We don’t know who BigDog1987 is. He could be a retired engineer. He could be a teenager. He could be reviewing lawn mowers while sitting in his mother’s basement. But his opinion matters. Because the internet said so.
And then there’s package delivery. We order something online. A box leaves a warehouse hundreds of miles away. It passes through sorting facilities, trucks, planes, distribution centers, and delivery drivers we’ve never met. Then we refresh the tracking page seventeen times in one afternoon as though our intense observation somehow improves the process.
“Out for delivery.” “Arriving by 8 PM.” “Three stops away.” It’s basically adult Christmas. And we trust every stranger involved to get our package from Point A to Point B. Most of the time, they do.
Even our medicine requires trust. We trust doctors to diagnose us. Pharmacists to fill prescriptions correctly. Manufacturers to produce them safely. Truck drivers to transport them. Store employees to stock them. At no point do most of us inspect the chemical composition ourselves. We trust the process. We trust the people. We trust strangers. Which brings me to the funny realization. For all our talk about not trusting strangers, society would completely collapse if we actually lived that way.
Every day we trust people we’ve never met:
- Pilots
- Mechanics
- Electricians
- Delivery drivers
- Restaurant workers
- Pharmacists
- Surgeons
- Utility crews
- Software engineers
- Truck drivers
The truth is, civilization runs because millions of ordinary people do their jobs honestly every day. Most of them we’ll never know. Most of them we’ll never thank. Most of them we’ll never even see. So maybe the lesson isn’t that people are foolish for trusting strangers. Maybe the lesson is that despite all the bad news we hear, the overwhelming majority of strangers are doing exactly what they’re supposed to do. And that’s a comforting thought.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go order dinner from a stranger, pay with a credit card, track the delivery on an app, and trust that my fries arrive safely.
Because apparently that’s what responsible adults do.
Trust is one of the foundations of every meaningful relationship, whether with God, family, friends, coworkers, or complete strangers. In Finding Your Transformative Life, I explore how trust, perspective, and intentional living shape the quality of our lives and relationships. If you’re looking to build a life marked by greater peace, purpose, and connection, the journey begins with understanding the principles that transform the way we think and live.
Available now on Amazon.
Troy P Zehnder 