Trust

Maybe I’m just too naïve.

When I meet someone for the first time, the assumption is that they are good people. Trustworthy. Honorable. Honest. I want to believe the same of the people I work with on a daily basis. And it's been really hard to come to terms with the fact that this is not the case.

Have never thought about using others as stepping stones to get ahead in life. Have seen a few people do it along the way in school and at previous jobs, but have always tried to stay AWAY from those (seemingly) crazy people who were willing to do whatever to get what they wanted. Am shocked to find that there is a high percentage of said crazy people in dermatology. Maybe I shouldn't be so shocked. It's just striking to see so much pathology in such high functioning people.

Or is it pathology? If “the majority of people are like this,” then perhaps I'm the oddball. The things they want – money, fame, power – in the grand scheme of things, don't mean that much to me, so it's hard to understand what makes them tick. Just work hard, try to do a good job, and keep your nose in your own business. Making someone else look bad so you look good is childish. It's a shame to think of such intelligent people wasting time and energy on plotting and playing little games for material things that, in the end, REALLY don't matter. And to top it all off, the expert players are the ones you least expect – the “silent and deadly” ones (look innocent, outwardly innocent and friendly, who have the longest and bloodiest daggers up their sleeve.) I mean, you expect this from politicians, but from academicians??

I must sound so truly naïve to those “in the know”.

Have been told that politics, backstabbing, stepping on other people, is the way of the world. That every workplace is the same. Have also been told that, because of this, I should never trust anyone at work. That I should not say anything that could be possibly be used against me.

The last point is good advice, but it's hard to imagine not trusting anyone. Don't think I'd like to spend my waking hours worrying about who might stab me in the back. Or working in an environment where I can't trust those I work with. And I know I don't EVER want to become like them. Because how can someone like that be happy with their world, or who they are? How can they intentionally hurt other people and think that the means justifies the end?

I am too naïve. But sometimes, I'd rather be naïve. I'd rather go on believing in, looking for, and seeing the good in people. It does a body good.

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