what a bitch

Well, I was perhaps going too far lauding the notion of polite Americans. Yesterday, during my first foray through the city, I wandered up a block or so to Union Square, which is by no means the most picturesque part of the city but, it being the first I encountered - and impressively huge from my English perspective - I decided to take a few photos of the main area and the buildings. Having snapped three shots, taking care not to allow any cars to obstruct my view, I heard someone shout 'hey'.

I turned to my left and saw a woman climbing out of a parked car just to my left.

"You want to explain why you're taking photographs of us?", she asked aggressively.

I glanced down - her mother, or an older woman, was sat in the passenger seat, looking tired.

"I'm sorry", I said, a bit taken aback, "but I wasn't - I was just taking a photo of the square".

"You really wanna ask permission in future", she barked, and climbed back in the car.

A bit stunned, I didn't know what to say, but a pair of young men, strolling past, had heard the exchange, and one turned to me and said, probably loud enough for the woman to hear through her open car window, "it's public property, you don't need to ask anyone for permission".

He glanced at the woman. "What a bitch", he said, loudly.

My knight in shining armour! I could have hugged him!