Pittsburghers are friendly, thoughtful and compassionate. I've lived in several "big" cities and never experienced such kindness of strangers anywhere.

The evening began as we pulled our minivan up to Heinz Hall on Friday evening. My husband and I were taking my elderly parents for a night on the town that included tickets to see "The Rat Pack Is Back!" With encouragement and assurances, we coaxed my frail mother out of the van, but she could not get her footing and repeatedly found herself plopped back down on the car seat.

I was struggling from curbside, my husband was navigating from the driver's side and my father was in a quandary about how he could help get my mother out of the car.

A kind, gentle man stepped up to our vehicle, extended his arm and swiftly assisted my mother out of the van. He was so sweet and generous -- it took me by surprise.

When he was sure my mother was steady on her feet, he patted her and wished her a wonderful evening at Heinz Hall. Then he and his family disappeared.

As if that wasn't enough charity for one evening, a wonderful couple inside the Hall "adopted" my mother as I ushered her into the beautiful bar seating area to catch her breath while I waited for my husband and father to join us. (Of course, they were fighting the parking lot scene!) I bought her something cold to drink, assured her I would return soon, and left her.

When I returned, there was a couple in deep conversation with her. They were most definitely tending to her for me. The sweet lady whispered in my ear as I thanked her for being so kind to my mother, "You have the most beautiful mother, I just fell in love with her!"

They, like the sweet man outside, disappeared in a moment. I never did even get their first names.

The evening was perfect -- the show was a true walk down memory lane for my parents -- and the random kindness of Pittsburghers added to that warm and fuzzy feeling everyone gets when nostalgia engulfs our emotions.

Thank you to the kind man in front of Heinz Hall. And thank you to the fine couple who not only sat with my mother so she would not be alone even for a moment -- but kissed her before they took their seats.

My mother glowed all evening. She (and I) will never forget the kindness of strangers in our hometown of Pittsburgh.

-- MAUREEN VALENZI, Sewickley

My husband and I were privileged to chair the 2008 annual convention of the Retired Employees of United Airlines from May 18 to 25. We hosted close to 500 guests from Hawaii, Germany and all across the country.

The accommodations at the beautiful Omni William Penn were superb. Christine Nelis and her staff gave new meaning to the word friendly. Our visitors took Just Ducky tours, saw PNC Park and spent time around the city. Kudos to all involved.

But perhaps the most delightful experience was at a landmark Downtown restaurant. Two of our members had dined at the Common Plea. After the meal, pressed for time, they tried to get a cab back to the Omni to catch the trip to PNC Park. It was rush hour, however, and cabs were not around.

The manager of the Common Plea dropped everything and drove them to the Omni in his own car.

Needless to say, the couple could not believe this. Of course, we all know that's Pittsburgh.

Thank you, Pittsburgh, for showing the rest of the world we are No. 1.

-- JERI and BERNIE JUTH, Aliquippa

Our street is a bit unusual -- it runs through three different municipalities, Scott, Carnegie and Green Tree. So when we have a block party -- as we did last weekend -- all three are represented. My task was to get someone from a fire or police department to come to the block party and interact with our neighbors.

I checked around and most departments, however, had a lot of people on vacation, or no one was available when I would go visit.

Saturday, I called the Scott Township police and asked them if there was any way they could send a police officer to talk to the kids and show them their car.

They asked me when the block party was. I said: "In an hour." This was at 1 p.m. At 1:30, I got a call from Officer Zimmerman, saying he would see if he could help on such short notice; they like to make sure they can send someone to talk and not be worried if a call comes in.

Well, not only did he send us Officer McGrath, he also sent K-9 Officer Lord. We didn't even know that Scott had a K-9!

He was a hit. I think the adults liked him more than the kids did. They also came with bags with coloring pictures, pencils and crayons for the kids. We enjoyed talking to Officer McGrath about what it takes to get and have a highly skilled and trained police dog. (We were very surprised by the expense and would like to help raise funds to support him.)

He is an amazing dog and both Officer McGrath and Lord were great to have at our community gathering. For example, one neighborhood boy is very frightened of dogs, but he was able to go near and touch him, which was a big deal.

We can't thank the township enough for coming, especially at such late notice. I'm writing because it meant a lot to me and my neighbors. Sometimes we all forget to give back. That's what makes our community so great.

-- TRACEY HNAT, Scott

I'm a fan of the Random Act of Kindness feature. Each Thursday since February, I've thought about a young lad's act of kindness toward me and said to myself that I would send a note here in hopes he would read it and know I still think of him and how much I appreciate what he did. Well, here it is.

On a windy, bitter cold morning in February, I stopped at the PNC Bank in Bloomfield, intending to withdraw some money to do some early morning food shopping. A young man about 19 years of age was standing at the entrance of the bank with books in hand. We said good morning and he informed me that it would be about 10 minutes before the bank would open for business.

We both remarked about how cold it was and how strong the wind was. He said that he had been standing in the doorway to attempt to avoid the wind while waiting for his bus. Rather than wait the 10 minutes, I opted to remove money from the ATM. I withdrew the money and held on to it with my left hand while retrieving my receipt and debit card with my right hand.

In just a split second, a gust of wind took hold of the $20 bill and blew it across the avenue. It landed at the entrance of the card store.

Before I could cross the avenue, the wind again grabbed hold of the bill and blew it about a half a block away. The wind carried the bill up to the second floor of the dentist's office and barely missed going on to the roof. I thought I would never see the $20 bill again.

All of a sudden, the wind subsided and the money floated to the ground. I was about to cross the avenue when I heard the young man yell that he would get it for me. He ran across the avenue as soon as the light turned green, even though his bus was coming close to the stop.

In that split second, he crossed and returned back, handed me the money and hopped on his bus and was on his way.

I don't know if he heard me thank him. But just in case he didn't: Thank you.

I've lived in Bloomfield most of my life and I am well aware of the generosity of the people living in our community. As a weekly reader of this column, it seems kindness and a helpful hand is not just a practice of Bloomfield residents but something that's practiced throughout the city.

-- IDA M. CZARNECKI, Bloomfield