A Certain Softness

I saw these cute little goslings on the Avon, where a young boy was feeding them chips from his lunch . When the pigeons landed he was kicking out at them to shoo them away, presumably because they weren't pretty enough to deserve chips. They can steal their own anyway. I didn't like his behaviour but didn't say anything.
A minute later a woman presumably his mother started doing the same thing. I was squatting down taking photos so I looked up and glared at her. She made eye contact. I'm sure she got my unspoken message. She backed off. I walked away. She started doing it again.
What's the matter with people?