On my flight home today, I chatted briefly with a gal who's visiting the Rose City for the first time on a convention junket. I did my best to lay things out for her. That's Hood and Jefferson on your left; Adams, St. Helens, and even Rainier on my right.

She's here for a meeting of a national association of people who teach homeless children. She's from Wyoming, where she tutors kids from kindergarten through senior year of high school. I asked where the kids slept. On the street? In cars? She said that most of them drift from friend's couch to friend's couch.

I rag a lot on the Convention Center, and I'm pretty neutral toward the public employee unions, but I hope that she and her colleagues have a good and productive time here. I warned her that if she looked lost in a public place in Portland, the locals would be climbing all over each other trying to be the one who gave her good advice on how to get around.

The spirit of the people who live in this town is phenomenal. When it comes to helping strangers, we're second to none. Welcome to Portland, lady. And if you run into her, folks, don't let me down.