I met David Barlow in the spring of this year, after he made some disparaging remarks on Facebook about female Democrats. His comments left me mad enough to spit nails, as my mother would have said, and I requested a meeting with him to discuss them.
He replied immediately, and we set a date for me to come to the office and talk. I walked in and introduced myself as a Democrat who was very unhappy to be pigeonholed, to be dismissed as one dimensional, just a member of a registered political party.
I explained that I am, in fact, so much more: A mother of two beautiful little girls, an active member of the PTO and my local MOMS Club, a CASA volunteer and a coordinator of a project to renovate the Church Street Park in downtown Fayetteville, the adopted home that I’ve come to love.
I explained that I feared that someone who would refer to me as a demon would simply dismiss the opinions of anyone who sat on my side of the aisle, and that these beliefs were just a local version of the gridlock in national politics.
I paraphrase, but he said that he occasionally stirred the pot just to see what may come up from it.
We ended up in his office for almost an hour and a half. Mr.Barlow ended up impressing me as someone feels very strongly in his convictions, but is in no way blinded by them.
Our conversation included our very different views on such heated topics as religion, abortion and politics, and never became disrespectful.
We discussed our shared love of Fayetteville, and how welcomed we both felt as transplants. We talked about our kids and spouses.
I read once that if you share three cups of tea with a man, you become his friend. I don’t know that we’re friends, but I certainly ended up with a very different experience than I had expected to have.
The conversation ended with Commissioner Barlow asking if he could offer commission recognition to the MOMS Club for our Church Street Park Revitalization project.
I wasn’t surprised to receive a call a few days later, explaining that the recognition wouldn’t be at the next meeting, as we’d discussed, but a month later when it would better help us to promote a large fundraiser.
I do not see eye to eye with Commissioner Barlow on many things, and am sure I never will, but I also feel it is incorrect to dismiss him so easily as a fanatic, or zealot.
He is a man of strong convictions, but also a man who will sit down with you, look you in the eye, and explain his beliefs to you. He will also listen to your opinions, and do what he can to find common ground.
I think that more politicians could take a lesson from that.
Sara Van Etten
Fayetteville, Ga.
