hello John,
you do not say where the lady was from or how old she is.
Not everyone has the "politeness" of the English .
For example a dear friend is German and then lived in Australia and will make quite personal comments to your face.
Also people tend to lose their frontal lobe self restraint as the reach their older years and tend to say out loud what they are thinking.
From what I read into your post, this lady was genuinely curious in an empathetic sort of way.
luv J
