My mum still tells the story of when I was little I was chucking a major tanty, kicking screaming the works and a little old lady came up to Mum and patted her on the back and said 'you're doing a great job, love'. She said it absolutely made her day to have a little bit of positive reinforcement.

Chrissy, the bit of your story that galls me most is her yelling to the man to leave your daughter alone. What if he panicked because of it and didn't grab her when she really needed it, ie car coming along. People are scared to touch other peoples kids (and rightfully so in some cases) but its still important that people can react and grab a kid in an emergency. I hope this doesn't stop him from reacting, if needed, in future.