On the sidewalk on the upper East side, a woman pulls at her recalcitrant dog's leash. In a near-fury, she bends over and addresses it: "Now, you listen to me," she says, pointing at its muzzle. "We are going to the store, and you are going along! So get going!"

When I looked back, the dog was still sitting on the sidewalk, and she was still pulling.

And "now, you listen to me" became our catch phrase for the rest of the trip.