Gull

The lake near the supermarket has a fairly predictable stock of birds. The light was nice this morning but I have to say the birds looked a bit dull and I was wishing I'd brought some bread. I traipsed round the whole lake and found a flurry of gulls behind some shrubbery and, sure enough, there was a mum and child chucking bread to the gulls. I said hello and thanked them for attracting the birds and said how nice the birds looked. And what did the mum say to me? Nothing. Not one word. Was it shyness? Was it fear? I don't think so. She didn't run away and just chatted to her child. It was breathtaking rudeness, the sort I have experienced so often during my 25 years in the south. I have become immune to it but not unmoved by it and I find it inexplicable. I can only assume she thought I'd invaded her space. Surely after all this time I could be classed as a settler.