WWANYD?

So tonight at Whole Foods a cranky old lady yelled at me. I was walking toward the exit, balancing my sleepy toddler and two heavy bags, when I stopped for a second to readjust my load. Suddenly, this lady comes up from behind and shoves me aside, growling "make up your mind!" I was too surprised to say anything, but I felt stupid and embarrassed. And I thought to myself, "how the hell am I going to survive New York if I can't handle a little thing like this?"

This type of thing will probably happen to me a lot more in New York, where everything is more crowded, and people are more abrupt. So I guess I have to toughen up, but exactly how is that supposed to look? Should I have yelled back? I must admit, my first instinct was to shout "fuck you, bitch!" at her crazy, hobbled back, but I think that would be going a little far, even for a New Yorker. I mean, here I am, a mild-mannered mother holding my baby. It would be pretty low class to scream "bitch," right? Should I have said "well, excuse me" in a venomous tone? Should I have just ignored her (as in fact I did)? But even if ignoring is the best thing to do, I'm pretty sure a real New Yorker wouldn't get hot in the face and walk away feeling flustered and near tears.

They're going to eat me alive.