WHEN TRUST RUSTS

I got a mail some days back whose subject read “For your eyes only……” The rest of the subject might give too much away. More unsettling was the content. It had the most heartrending graphics I had seen in my brief patronage of the internet.
Two members of the staff of one of the telecommunication outfits in Nigeria, both of opposite sex and of two different married couples went on leave. They left the shores of our green Nigeria to paint the corners of some other nation, bloody red.
A husband leaves his wife in Nigeria, and travels with the wife of another man and on getting to their foreign destination, leads the consummation of what must have been their secret sizzling office romance. They both indulge in what they would have tagged, “the greatest fun of our lives” yet.
It’s only amazing how fun can burn!
To make these moments more than mere memories, they made use of cameras and froze the smiles that hung over their naked bodies. They had pictures taken in their Jacuzzi and on lovely duvets. Indeed it was quite a sight.
Undeniably, a picture as is often said is worth a thousand words. I can’t possibly describe all that was seen in this mail. To express my feelings seems a greater difficulty. But I’ll try, for your sake- the reader who hasn’t seen the mail in question.
The rare splendor they thought they shared was broadcast to the world when someone stumbled into the memory card which bore shots of their incredible indulgence. This person, whoever he/she is, immediately pushed it into internet circulation and in record setting time, more people than their wildest imaginations could imagine had a robust glimpse of their remixed honeymoon.
What followed was their Company’s advice to ‘either resign or be resigned’. In haste, you would think that should be their greatest loss.
Think now of what their spouses would feel; how they would react to the betrayal of marital vows. Worse still would be that such betrayal was first made public before they were confessed privately. Already, I’m almost 118% sure that the marital bliss of both couples would have evaporated or at the least, being refrigerated. What disturbs me more is how badly scorched their trust vaults must be now.
Trust is sublime. We were taught in physics that the word sublime refers to substances that can be readily transformed from solid to gaseous states. My teacher forgot to mention such examples as trust! I fear that by now, their trust levels for one another would have been so badly damaged they are likely declaring bankruptcy to those who care to listen.
Trust at first sight! Ever heard that? Or trust your neighbor as yourself. Heard that either? Well, I haven’t and I’ve yet to meet anyone who has. That is simply because, trust is built; very slowly, yet lost in a flash if not faster. I’m more concerned here about when trust rusts; when the confidence reposed in another wears thin from very gentle strokes of misconduct.
Love seems easier to find when lost. We find more people saying, I’m going to love again. Trust? Nah! That is one reason why most of us don’t gamble. We are just not sure that our investments would return, not to mention with profits. We just don’t trust these processes. But what do you do when your marriage or friendship feels more like a casino than anything else. What is next when confidence in your spouse has gone south? What do you do, when Trust Rusts? I hope my next post offers answers.