Could you possibly clarify what you considered "rude?" Because the critique of the photo was pretty much spot on.
I'm confused about what you're asking in your OP. Are you saying that you think you WERE "up close and personal" with your subject in this photo and that they were fine with it?
Are you saying it's odd that they were staring at your camera and gear? That doesn't seem odd to me, that someone would stare at you when you are pointing your camera at THEM.
And, why don't you want anyone to talk about centering? Wouldn't you want to hear ANYthing that might improve your photos?
Centering isn't really the best plan, generally speaking, anyway, but getting your subject out of the tiny little portion of the photo that they are in here (assuming that the people ARE the subject of the photo, and not the fuzzy car…

, would be immensely helpful.