For some reason I never pick up a basket at the supermarket when the need for it is marginal; if there's a chance of carrying all the items without one - even if it means balancing a frozen chicken on my head - then I'll go without.
So needless to say when making it to the front of the express queue laden with unnecessary fripperies and a couple of bottles of M&S's finest slipping through one's fingers, it's a bit of a blow to see the Customer Service Representative attending the till run off to help someone else.
As it happens, our CSR has gone to the aid of a lady sat waiting patiently on a nearby bench - a couple of seconds later, I realise she's waiting to be guided out of the store because she's blind. They know each other by name so we can assume 'Audrey' is a regular. Outside they meet a cab driver who again knows his customer by name and is prepared with the cab step down, door open, ready to take Audrey home.
Clearly, Audrey has built a rapport with M&S and her cab company. Probably there are a few companies she trusts to provide her a service and they value that trust because a violation of it would affect the way they feel about themselves, regardless of whether that trust affects the revenue stream from Audrey in the future.
So Audrey's favourite companies will be ones she trusts and her dependency on that trust highlights the problem we all have in a world where connectivity is virtually ubiquitous but opportunities to build trust are rare; where we can claim hundreds of people as friends yet not really know any of them. Robbed of key senses we use to evaluate whether someone is trustworthy we take a gamble on human nature; the optimistic invite everyone into their lives, the pessimistic don't go on line.
This means that trust is the key factor in maintaining relationships. If I were to Twitter something inappropriate (plug: @timjsharpe) then my followers (few as they are) would lose trust in my judgement. I stopped following Boris Johnson because he was boring me to tears (@mayoroflondon if you must). Those with a substantial following often have media careers, precisely because their judgement is considered as sound in some way.
And that's how social networking is working for me; a load of editors that I trust are all editing the internet for me, providing links.
Where it's the web being edited into precise links today, tomorrow it will be business flowing from and to communities of like minded individuals. Trust is the currency of the future.
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