A moment that changed me: I was raised to be wary of strangers – then came an unusual request
When a frazzled couple asked me and my friend to witness their wedding, I forgot my training in suspicion and began reconsidering my instincts
Growing up in a family of refugees, I was raised to approach strangers with caution. After experiencing displacement, my parents instilled in me the idea that trust had to be earned; they had seen the risks that come with being vulnerable in a new environment. Being wary of the unfamiliar was their way of ensuring we stayed safe in a world that wasn’t always welcoming.
As I got older, their anxieties became my own. I would automatically assume, for example, that someone asking for directions might run off with my phone, or that someone asking for money might scam me.
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