Last night I was driving from Harrisburg to Lewisburg，Pa．，a distance of about eighty miles．It was late．I was late and if anyone asked me how fast I was driving，I'd have to plead1) the Fifth Amendment2) to avoid self－incrimination3)．Several times I got stuck behind a slow－moving truck on a narrow road with a solid white line on my left，and I was clinching my fists with impatience．

At one point along an open highway，I came to a crossroads with a traffic light．I was alone on the road by now，but as I approached the light，it turned red and I braked to a halt．I looked left，right and behind me．Nothing．Not a car，no suggestion of headlights，but there I sat，waiting for the light to change，the only human being for at least a mile in any direction．

 

I started wondering why I refused to run the light4)．I was not afraid of being arrested，because there was obviously no cop around，and there certainly would have been no danger in going through it．

 

Much later that night，after I'd met with a group in Lewisburg and had climbed into bed near midnight，the question of why I'd stopped for that light came back to me．I think I stopped because it's part of a contract5) we all have with each other．It's not only the law，but it's an arrangement we have，and we trust each other to honor it：we don't go through red lights．Like most of us，I'm more apt to6) be restrained from doing something bad by the social convention that disapproves of it than by any law against it．

 

It's amazing that we ever trust each other to do the right thing，isn't it ？And we do，too．Trust is our first inclination7)．We have to make a deliberate8) decision to mistrust someone or to be suspicious or skeptical9)．Those attitudes don't come naturally to us．

 

It's a damn good thing too，because the whole structure of our society depends on mutual trust，not distrust．This whole thing we have going for us would fall apart if we didn't trust each other most of the time．We do what we say we'll do；we show up when we say we'll show up；we deliver when we say we'll deliver；and we pay when we say we'll pay．We trust each other in these matters，and when we don't do what we've promised，it's a deviation10) from the normal．It happens often that we don't act in good faith and in a trustworthy manner，but we still consider it unusual，and we're angry or disappointed with the person or organization that violates11) the trust we have in them．

 

I was so proud of myself for stopping for the red light that night．

 

by Andy Rooney