It's one of those things that maybe only a newspaper editor can understand.
It's something you simply can't get wrong.
It's why my hair long ago took on a fretful shade of gray.
It's why - yes even after three decades doing this - you still occasionally wake up at 3 a.m. in a cold sweat.
We all make mistakes. Maybe that's why I'm always reluctant to jump on someone who has just made one.
Kenny Chesney made a pretty big one Saturday night.
It's the one - especially now when we deliver news in a heartbeat via Twitter and Facebook - that I'm still very leery about.
The country superstar gave a shout-out to wounded Folcroft Police Officer Chris Dorman during his sold-out show at Lincoln Financial Field Saturday night.
Dorman is a huge fan who actually was supposed to be at the show. But that was before he was hit by seven bullets in an ambush attack after he responded to a call for drug activity behind a Folcroft apartment complex Friday morning.
Saturday morning Dorman reached out to Chesney via social media, asking the country star 'not to forget me.'
It started trending as people all over the area urged Chesney to remember Dorman at the show.
Chesney did just that, but he made a critical error.
He told the crowd that Dorman had passed away.
Folcroft officers quickly jumped on social media to indicate that was not the case, that Dorman was still very much alive.
Chesney explained that he simply got caught up in the moment and misspoke. I know how he feels. Hey, Kenny, it's even worse when it winds up in print and lasts forever.
"I think the emotions got the best of me, and I wasn't as clear as I could've been," Chesney said in a statement. "The idea that a hero like that, with seven bullets in him, would even think about me ... I heard about right before I hit the stage and it stopped me in my tracks."
A lot of people reacted with outrage over Chesney's error. Granted, it's not something you want to do. I know that better than anyone. I also know how easy - especially today - it is for something like that to happen.
I'm inclined to give Chesney the benefit of the doubt, especially after what he did Sunday morning.
Chesney personally called Dorman in his hospital room to apologize for the error, and to extend an offer to take in an Eagles game and share a beer with the wounded officer.
Dorman and his family members actually joked about it. "It didn't bother man," Dorman told our Rose Quinn in a brief phone interview Sunday. "All things considered it could have been a lot worse."
Kenny Chesney and Christopher Dorman.
A couple of class acts.
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