On the ride back from Taipei Zoo, Siena misplaced her train token and later found it before she got into trouble (from me). Eager to teach my daughter a lesson about responsibility, I brought her to the station attendant to inquire about the consequences of the (would-have) lost token.

The train attendant responded, all you need to do is tell us which station you embarked on the train last and repurchase the ticket from us. As simple as that.

It didn’t take much to figure out the loophole in the system. Given the further you were traveling from, the more expensive the ride would cost.

So I asked the attendant, how do you know if I’m telling the truth?

Without a second of thought, he said – I trust you.

Those three magic words uttered out of the mouth of a perfect stranger in a big city profoundly touched my heart. It was the last thing I ever expected.

How do we build trust amongst strangers?

It occurred to me that you can’t force this fickle little idea into existence. You gain trust by first taking a chance to trust others.

Even though trivial, this precious experience gave me plenty of hope in humanity. A lesson that I will always treasure and a practice that I must definitely pay forward.