I am on holiday in Bavaria, where, in between the beer and schnitzels, I have been contemplating the nature of trust. A rather old-fashioned guest house happily took our reservation and let us run up a bill of nearly €1,000 without ever demanding more than a signature. Not for the Bavarians the pre-authorised credit card. Our room keys were stored in an unlocked cabinet in a quiet corridor, along with the keys of every other guest in the place. It made me wonder why anyone was bothering with keys in the first place. Nevertheless, our belongings were not stolen and we paid our bill when we left. The trust had been justified.
我正在德国巴伐利亚州度假，在享用啤酒和炸肉排的间隙，我思考起信任的本质。一家相当老式的旅馆欣然接受了我们的预定，只让我们签了个名，就允许我们欠下快1000欧元的房费，看来预授权信用卡在巴伐利亚州毫无用武之地。我们的房间钥匙与其他所有客人的钥匙都放在一个柜子里，柜子没上锁，置于一条僻静的走廊里。我不禁好奇：大家还需要钥匙干嘛？尽管如此，我们的随身物品没有被盗，我们离开时也付清了房款。这份信任没有被辜负。