Blaise Tapp: Give strangers the benefit of the doubt from time to time

As someone who grew up in the ‘80s, I was hardwired not to talk to strangers, especially those who came bearing hard boiled sweets or those UFO-shaped treats with sherbet in the middle. Like millions of others, I did exactly what the cartoon cat Charley said and steered clear of wrong ‘uns who sought to tempt us into their Cortina.

Back then, we had a very clear idea of the sort of strangers we should be avoiding but these days, our distrust of people we don’t know seems to be even more heightened than it was four decades ago. It’s as if the unlimited information that is at our fingertips means that our default is to think the worst of everybody.

However, a recent study involving dropped wallets, suggests that many of us ought to put more faith in strangers than we currently do. Researchers found that those who found lost wallets were twice as likely to return them as their rightful owners had expected. The study was conducted to coincide with the recent World Happiness Day, which found that believing in the kindness of strangers made people more content with their lot.

I’ve long subscribed to the view that strangers are friends that I haven’t met yet and, yes I know that there are magnets bearing that very saying stuck to fridges everywhere. It’s true though, fellow humans are generally fascinating, with their own individual stories to tell - if only others made the effort to listen to them.

In my experience, minor acts like offering someone a seat or holding a door open can lead to a smile and even a polite conversation but it’s those really big gestures from people we’ve never met before that stay with you. I’ll never forget the generosity of the passer-by in a Lancashire car park who helped me change my flat tyre late one rainy night. He didn’t need to do that.

It’s true that there’s an awful lot wrong with society today but it is worth remembering that not everybody is out to pinch our smartphones or clone our identity. We might all benefit from giving strangers the benefit of the doubt from time to time.