Streetside Shofar Serenade!

So this evening, we're strolling back from a visit to a friends' apartment and these 2 black hat Haredi duds with the long beards (and can I tell you it's 90' F here at 7pm, I kid you not) walk by us and ask if we've had the privilege of hearing the shofar (ram's horn) blow (it's like a good deed to hear it blown on rosh hashanah)... anyway, so we said no, and then the dude plops a yamulke on my dad's head and makes him recite a couple of prayers and then proceeds to perform a sidewalk shofar serenade for like five full minutes with his eyes closed, and I mean really blowing that thing till he's red in the face (can I hear an amen? Tikiyah Gidola - Google THAT!!)... I'm looking at my mom like OMG, should I laugh or be scared or be impressed, and she's refusing to look at me b/c she doesn't want to crack up... anyway, it was broad daylight on a surburb street and then the guy simpled finished and we both went on our ways!! Wow, that's bizarre, eh? Unless you live on NYC's lower east side...