Tonight I was walking my sister’s dog, Drake, and we passed by a neighbor’s house with a little girl, Des Moines, playing with her mom. The little girl ran to the Drake, squeeling in delight. Her mother called out "Des Moines", and the little girl stopped and promptly asked, "Can I pet your dog?"
Seeing how Drake was excited and curious about the child and has no history of aggression with humans (bigger dogs, yes. Drake is a rescue and has issues with food and bigger dogs. Also scars on their butt.), I replied with a, "Yes, you may." While Des Moines and Drake got along fantastically, even played a bit of tug-a-war with a stick, the mother glared at me and walked over to me. She muttered, "Don’t correct my daughters grammar." After a couple of seconds the daughter got bored with Drake and grabbed her bike asking her mom if they could bike so more before dinner. Drake and I took our leave, continued on the nightly walk.
I want to note somethings:
1. I didn’t stress "may", I was just naturally saying "Yes, you may." I do get some people getting triggered by replying to "Can I do \[X\]?" with "Yes, you MAY" & "I don’t know CAN you?". My godmother is a teacher and did that to me constantly as I grew up and stopped saying "Can I?".
2. I have incredible social anxiety as a Transwoman in Texas, and didn’t really stand up for myself.
3. I’m currently living with my parents and my sister after being laid off, and don’t want to make things awkward between our neighbors. Should I apologize for any misunderstanding?
P.S. Drake and Des Moines are the real names, Drake is because it’s adjacent to the dog’s name and Des Moines because no one in their right mind would name a girl that.
EDIT: Spoke with my father and mother about this, since they know us both. They say the correct reply should have been, "Only if your mother/guardian says yes." And that the mother has a history of getting "hangry" around dinnertime, especially after the family’s late afternoon bike rides (typically they get done at 5:30 PM, and this was after 6 PM). My mom told me, that she’ll probably give me a small apology and tell me about making sure the parent gives final permission for a child to pet and play with a pet, the next time she sees one of the family walking the dog.