The Shattering Of Trust

It’s confession time. As a young person, I used to love comics. Like seriously love comic books.

Every Tuesday I would head to the local comic shops: Homerun Comics, Lange’s Sports Connection, Campus Sports, and one other comic book store I can’t recall the name of (But I can recall the owners, the location, and even the smell of the store).

Comics were huge to me. They also caused my trust to be shattered in a way that still sticks with me.

A love of reading and comic books with X-Man Beast

Image by Dashu Pagla

Even today, I can vividly remember the day my heart sunk and I was devastated. What could cause my young heart to be crushed?

The cause was a letter I received in the mail. It wasn’t a Dear John letter or a letter informing me of some tragic event.

No, it was a letter informing me the company, UCI Comics, I ordered my comic books from had declared bankruptcy. The letter described UCI Comics couldn’t continue doing business and had no cash flow. The also couldn’t ship out the comic books people had prepaid. Including me…

To me, this was heart breaking, devastating, trust shattering news. I’d trusted this company with my hard earned money, probably around $60 at that time, and they screwed up. Now, I wouldn’t be seeing my comic books or a return of my money.

Trust was shattered.

Trust in mail order companies. Trust in the comic book business. And trust in other ares of life.

While I enjoyed those Tuesday stops after school to the comic book shops which sparked a love of reading and great books that still carries on today, I never recovered the love I once I had for comic books. I no longer actively seek out the latest issue of the Astonishing X-Men or Bone or Captain America or any of my other favorite comic books.

Just like my trust was broken in the companies that provided comic books, trust can be easily shattered in our leadership.

When our actions don’t line up with what we say, trust is shattered.

When we fail to protect those we lead, trust is shattered.

When we contort the truth, trust is shattered.

Guys, realize trust is fragile. Our actions and words determine whether or not we keep the trust we’ve earned.

Question: What are you doing to ensure you don’t break the trust others have in you? Please share your methods in the comment section below.

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