No one trusts the Swiss – but they trust each other

In my quest to under­stand the Swiss and the Swiss way of life, one of the most perplexing pheno­mena that for me still defies simple logic is the Swiss way of prac­ti­cing, reac­ting to, deter­mi­ning, and mana­ging ‘trust’. Trust, as in the moral and ethical stan­dard of being trustworthy. 

I have tried and tried, but just as the taste and smell of cheese get more compli­cated based on how Swiss it is, this trust issue eludes my uncom­pli­cated under­stan­ding. Are Swiss people much more trust­worthy and trusting than others? Or just like ever­y­where else, there are trust­worthy people just as there are untrust­worthy ones? Is direct demo­cracy as it is prac­ticed in Switz­er­land rein­for­cing mutual trust between the govern­ment and its people?

No wallet, no problem

To start with, Switz­er­land remains one of those count­ries where economic, social and some­times even poli­tical inter­ac­tions are carried out based on trust. For instance, recently, I was on a team retreat (don’t ask me if it was in a luxu­rious resort, or if it was a ‘Swiss style’ retreat!). Some of us in the team got sepa­rated from the others, and the admin person who had our group tickets was part of the other group. 

We waited for the next bus and when we arrived, we explained what had happened to the driver. Without asking for any proof, without questio­ning our expl­ana­tion, without as much as an eye-blink, the driver waved us into the bus and took us on the one-hour trip to the retreat venue. For someone who has been thrown out of a bus in Oshodi (Lagos Nigeria) because the driver and the conductor did not believe the story that my wallet has just now been stolen in the bus, this act was A BIG DEAL!

Another time, my husband and I ate at a restau­rant for the first time. After the meal, we tried to pay via Twint (it is an elec­tronic payment system) and while we got the noti­fi­ca­tion for a successful tran­sac­tion, the restau­ranteur did not get a notice of payment.

In Nigeria, if you eat at a restau­rant and you are unable to pay for one reason or the other, the norm is that you will do menial jobs for the restau­ranteur in lieu of payment for that meal. This could range from doing dishes, swee­ping the floors, clea­ning, or even serving diners.

When the restau­ranteur said she did not get the payment, I already began to sweat profu­sely. My head was whir­ling thin­king: How many dishes will they have us wash? She asked us to wait for some minutes to see if the payment comes in, and after about 2 minutes, she came back to us and said we can leave if we would like to.

I was like, are you serious? She asked us to drop our phone number if we would like. “You don’t need our address?” No, she said. She trusts that the payment will come in, and if it does not, she trusts that we will come back. Wow! Just Wow!

My colle­ague took her bicycle for repairs in a repair shop she had never been to before. She unfort­u­n­a­tely forgot her wallet at home. She offered to come back for the bicycle the follo­wing day, but the repairer simply told her to go with the bicycle (fixed already) and return with the money the follo­wing day. She wrote to me and said “Medinat, these people have CRAZY trust in each other”, and I could not agree less. If you are used to count­ries where ‘pay before service’ is the order of the day, you will get why we are all so dumbfounded by the Swiss people’s way of trusting.

Distru­sted Swiss Organizations

You would assume that trust is only a rela­tional factor in social inter­ac­tions but no, it is not. Even the Swiss govern­ment relates to its citi­zens with the highest expec­ta­tion of follo­wer­ship based on trust. Take the Swiss voting process for instance. You get your ballot papers via post in the comfort of your home. You then vote and mail it back via the same process. 

There is no expec­ta­tion or assump­tion of elec­toral malprac­tice or rigging, both on the side of the elec­to­rates and the elec­toral body. No elec­toral moni­to­ring by secu­rity offi­cials is neces­sary. No public holi­days are declared for voting or elec­tion days. The country does not come to a standstill to elect public officials! 

Now the conundrum: While Switz­er­land is one of the most trusted and trusting count­ries, the country houses the largest compa­nies and orga­nizations opera­ting in sectors that are highly regarded as ‘distru­sted’. In which banks and private vaults do global corrupt govern­ment offi­cials hide stolen public funds? Look no further! You remember the FIFA scandal? Guess where Sepp Blatter and his cohorts were arre­sted? Same answer.

Which country is the ‘neutra­lity insi­gnia’ of the world but is very much active in the arms trade in conflict zones? Ermm, answer unch­anged. Have you read the Panama Papers, and would you like to know whose country’s lawyers secretly helped set up phony compa­nies for money laundry and tax evasion? You already know!

Recon­ci­ling the two images of Switz­er­land based on trust is a herculean task. I have seen trust in the good nature of others displayed in this country much more than anywhere else I have lived. My ‘meta-analysis’ (hope that reads as sophi­sti­cated as I intended it to) is that the poli­tical and social system of Switz­er­land guaran­tees indi­vi­dual and public safety in various strata of life. 

The quality of life in the country is one of the highest in the world. This natu­rally plays into inter­per­sonal rela­ti­on­ships and flows into trusting that others will be as content, accom­mo­da­ting, under­stan­ding, and trusting as a typical Swiss is. Some­times I get it, other times, I do not. I guess this comes with living this Swiss life the Naija way.