Posted by
Roxanna M. on Monday, October 10, 2011 10:50:32 AM
I recently told someone something of a deeply personal, private nature. I told this person not to tell anyone, including her children. She just informed me that she had told her son, who I barely know and who I don't trust not to tell other people. After all, the woman I thought I could trust implicitly showed me that she could not be trusted.
Rather than apologize for her actions, she played CYA and sought to justify herself by saying that breaching my trust was okay because her son liked me. What she should have done was say, "You're right. I betrayed your trust, and I'm sorry." What she should not have done was try to justify herself and then say she had my "best interests" at heart.
If you've been told something with the request not to tell anyone else, honor that. And if you don't, apologize for your actions. Don't try to justify yourself and, whatever you do, don't turn it back around on the person you've betrayed.
Trust is precious, don't blow it.