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Last week a giant middle-aged man in a long black coat approached me in an Apple Valley parking lot asking for help. I asked him how I might help him, and he explained that he needed $23 more for a bus ticket, perhaps some money for food, and any extra to pay forward. I gave him my emergency fifty and wished him a Merry Christmas. He was quite grateful and said "I love you man" as we went our separate ways.

I guess I had been looking for such an opportunity for some time, as there is nothing like a face-to-face experience compared to all the checks we write to charities and the uses of our tax dollars to help others. It was ironic that two years earlier our old Subaru broke down for the last time in that lot, finally destined to the salvage yard in Farmington. I desperately asked for a ride to Minneapolis and offered to pay but no takers, so I walked five miles and finally got hold of a daughter to pick me up.

Also last week I read of Glen Taylor, the Mankato multibillionaire businessman and Star Tribune owner who continues to increase his giving for good as he ages, a generous philanthropist with so much to give ("Taylor using farms to seed charitable giving," Dec. 20). His businesses have provided a good living to thousands of employees over the years, including all those currently providing our local newspaper. His millions continue to help so many in need. I briefly met Taylor when we insured Taylor Printing in the 1970s and read of him as our careers progressed. My career was far more modest, as well as my ability to help others in need; we do what we can.

I will never know if my recent encounter was genuine or not, living with the hope that I helped that man make it safely to his destination. So angel or patsy — doesn't really matter, as virtue formed my intent.

Michael Tillemans, Minneapolis

John Greig, Edina

I am one of the many heartbroken over the death of the cougar ("Cougar spotted in city hit on I-394," Dec. 7). In so many ways its death captured our times in a single stilled image: the wild animal whose habitat has been decimated, who is desperately seeking food, a mate, a home, is killed off by a Humvee on a highway. (I do realize the driver was not at fault, that a death or injury of this beautiful creature was imminent.)

I feel deep grief for this creature, for the larger losses of so many species, for the continuing devastation of environment, for the loss of our collective relationship with the earth and her inhabitants, who are truly our kin and with whom we share this space on earth. I have mixed feelings about the mounting and displaying of the body of the cougar ("Minneapolis cougar to get a second life of sorts," Dec. 21). I hope that the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will create context around this animal's search that inevitably brought him into city spaces, and elevate the story behind his wanderings within the truth of climate change. A exhibition that merely holds the body of this wild creature on display for people to see a cougar close up would diminish and dishonor this creature's life and horrible death. I call upon the board to bring in multiple voices to contextualize the display of the cougar's body so as to more fully tell the whole story (voices such as Heid E. Erdrich and Kate DiCamillo come to mind) of this particular cougar, of this point in time on our planet, and of how the cougar's life and death matter.

Patricia Brenneman, Minneapolis

Regarding the new Minnesota state flag, it's pretty generic. It seems the goal was to not define Minnesota so much as to keep the design safe. We've swung in an entirely different direction than the controversial former flag. Our distinctions in Minnesota go way beyond the North Star, water and sky, after all!

Sharon E. Carlson, Andover

For once I agree with a Star Tribune sports columnist ("NFL needs to push this lazy play that cost the Vikings," Jim Souhan column, Dec. 18). The so-called "brotherly shove," which is plainly stolen or cannibalized from rugby, should be banned and penalized by the NFL. Make it like intentional grounding with a 10-yard penalty and a loss of down. A running play in American football should be a running play. The ball is either snapped to the ball carrier or handed to that player — it's not a group thing.

Moreover, the use of the push in the traditional quarterback sneak context adds to officiating uncertainty, which already plagues NFL football — the game is already filled with half-baked officiating calls and replay reviews. And it simply weakens one of the underlying concepts of the sport: individual effort.

Ban the play. Call it illegal offensive conduct. And the signal for the penalty should be two hands pushing twice.

Albert Turner Goins Sr., White Bear Lake

No one enjoys a good old-fashioned rugby scrum more than I. Souhan's call for the NFL to shove the mob play known as "tush push" overboard is, I think, a bit out of order. There's a better solution to mob rule, and this is what I propose: Send a team of scouts to Japan, where they will seek out and hire 22 of the biggest Sumo wrestlers they can find. They should be easy to find, because the top 15 rated Sumo wrestlers range from 645 pounds down to 500.

Next, throw out the playbook and issue the new team book, which has one play — the quarterback sneak-push. See? Kickoff, then 30 or 40 quarterback sneaks. BOOM! Touchdown. This strategy lends new meaning to the phrase "Take this job and shove it!"

There are some potential problems that need to be addressed: Considering the spartan dress of a Sumo wrestler, no late season games should be scheduled at Green Bay. On the other hand, the annoying ritual of jumping the wall after a touchdown will certainly end.