Remember, this show is from the ‘70s and we as a nation have come a LONG way since then.

 

As it turns out, Greg gets tattled on and he is brought into his dad’s den (uh, oh) where his parents decide to have a talk with him. He is asked, “Greg, were you smoking at school?”

 

Rather indifferent, he tells his parents he had but said “he didn’t like it and doesn’t plan on doing it anymore.”

 

Basically, he gave in to peer pressure like a lot of us have when we’re trying to “fit in”. His parents go on to warn him about the dangers of smoking and Greg acquiesces.

 

Later on in the show, as Greg’s mom, Carol, is entertaining a woman from the school’s anti-smoking campaign, a pack of cigarettes falls out of Greg’s letterman’s jacket in front of his mom and the woman. Greg is put in a tough situation having to explain to his mother (and the woman) that the cigarettes aren’t his.

 

The thing that surprised me when this happened is when Greg told his mom the cigarettes weren’t his, she didn’t even bat an eye with disbelief. She didn’t grill him nor ask him to explain. The woman, however, was shocked that Carol would believe her son when the evidence was right before their eyes.

 

Carol said she trusted her son and if he said they weren’t his, she had no reason to distrust him.

 

At this point in the show, I was flabbergasted. I couldn’t believe Greg’s mom would be so nonchalant about the situation and not question Greg further. Would my mom have given me the benefit of the doubt and trusted me in that situation? Would mothers of today react the same way?

 

As it turns out (spoiler alert), Greg is revealed to be telling the truth despite the strong evidence when it is discovered the jacket the cigarettes fell out of was a friend of his who had the same letterman’s jacket look and size.

 

This episode got me thinking. 

 

How many times have we as human beings jumped to conclusions based on what we perceived to be the truth? How many times have we accused something of someone without looking at all the facts or waiting for the real truth to come out? How many times have we acted like the woman in the story instead of the mom?

 

I know the story is fictional but there’s a lot to learn from good wholesome TV sometimes. 

 

I also know that there a lot of people out there who have trusted many people and have been let down, time and again. Trust is as hard to attain as a ride to the moon.

 

The show had me wonder how the boy must have felt having his mom step up and say she trusted her son. I wonder how his telling the truth affected how he handled similar situations the future.  I wonder how many parents today would have taken that same situation (or worse) and done the same thing as Carol or would trust not even be considered?

 

“Trust” can be defined as a belief that someone or something is reliable, good and honest. It defines a person’s character and depicts a certain level of dependency.

 

Greg Brady was trusted despite the evidence to the contrary. His parents saw him as good, reliable and honest, so they didn’t doubt him. The woman from the anti-smoking campaign, however, didn’t know Greg the way his parents did and judged him according to what she saw with her own eyes.

 

How many times have we done the same thing, I wonder? 

 

Where would I have stood in that situation? Who would I have believed? Would I have trusted Greg and his testimony as confidently as his parents did?

 

I’ve noticed it sometimes takes years to build up trust and it can only take suspicion, not proof, to destroy it. Trust is like glass, once it is broken it cannot be repaired, only replaced.

 

So, where do you stand? Can you be trusted? Can you trust others? 

 

Does trust even exist?