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Job perks

My old city editor, Steve Clements, had very strict rules about what we could and couldn't accept from people we interviewed.
If you could eat it or wear it, you could take it.
One of my desk drawers is filled with gimme T-shirts. And I've eaten my fair share of barbecue, fried chicken and pineapple upside-down cake.
The rules were put in place so that a reporter's integrity and objectivity can never be questioned.
And mainly, so that no one can ever imply we were paid by a source or accepted favors to do a story about someone.
But all that went out the door two weeks ago when I got the best freakin' gift any person I've ever interviewed has ever given me.

I had been talking with Johnny Guffey down in Scotland for several months about doing a story on his original and handmade fence. It features cowboy hats welded to the top of the fence posts and was a project he devoted three years to completing.
I arrived down in Scotland in September, did the interview and then Mr. Guffey said he had something for me.
He went to his workshop and came back with the coolest paperweight a country girl could ever have.
He said he had made it specifically for me, that it was one of a kind, and that I couldn't refuse it.
I know it's technically against the rules.
But maybe, in this case, they were more like suggestions.

Posted by Lara Richards at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)