Jeri Rowe, man's man.

The News & Record's Jeri Rowe called me yesterday to discuss my post about his report on the surveillance of benches on the Greenway.

What a refreshing conversation. My post was highly critical of Jeri's reporting, but Jeri did not call to argue or to roll over for the sake of avoiding confrontation. Instead we had a man-to-man conversation about the issues at hand -- honest, forthright and productive. Jeri explained to me where my knowledge was lacking and acknowledged my legitimate concerns. We joked about whether the proper spelling is "gawd-awful" or "gawdawful" and I feigned shock at his salty language. But in the end, we had a better understanding of each other, the issues and, most importantly, how to proceed in pursuit of a positive outcome. Jeri said he would follow up with an attempt to clarify some of the questions I raised (some of which have subsequently been answered).

Jeri did not call me to cover his ass, brush me off or jerk my chain. He called to learn, understand, educate and open a door to solutions -- honest, productive, unfortunately rare and much appreciated.