Well, I have enough inner city experience to know that if some strange person approaches you with a question, there are only a few options. Either ignore them and keep walking, which is what I do most of the time and it works, or put my hand on my knife, back away, and get ready for a fight. My knife is offensive, but just holding it in my fist when I punch can break a jaw.
If anybody talks to you on the street in the city, it is only because they either want something from you or they are crazy. I would have punched their lights out at the question, and then quickly left the scene. Duck in somewhere quick and change my appearance in any way I can. Then continue on home.
You can tell, you get that sense, when someone is approaching you to engage you in something. When I get that sense, I immediately go into fight mode. I'm ready before they get anywhere close to me. If I ignore them and they press the issue, then it is not my fault.
I don't speak to anybody that I do not know on the street. And I certainly do not allow anyone to speak to me. That's just how I roll.
@240B Having lived "in the wild of the city" myself on a few occasions,my only disagreement with you is MY belief is if the SOB gets close enough to touch you,the time for threats or warnings has passed. Punch their freaking lights out immediately before saying a word,and if they are still moving when they hit the ground,kick them in the head a few times before leaving to make sure they can't get up and pull their knife or gun and go after you.
To be honest,the best defense is to walk around looking aggressive and fearless. These people are losers looking for victims,not brave people looking to become victims. If they think there is even the tiniest chance of their prey fighting back,they will look for a harmless target instead. I was once surrounded by 4 or 5 Mexican gangbangers in Denver after slapping the snot out of one of them in a restaurant for being rude and verbally threatening to a new 18 year old waitress. I ate there every night,knew the girl was new,and when she started crying,it was more than I could deal with,so I just slapped the snot out of him and told him I was going to beat him to death if he didn't apologize and leave her a 10 dollar tip before leaving. He did,and I managed to calm her down to the point she didn't just walk off her first job.
My mistake was being a regular customer there,and having my Harley parked right outside by the window where I could keep an eye on it. Because it was a regular joint for me,I hung around,drank some coffee,and talked with the regulars before I left. The end result was he was back with several punk friends,waiting for me when I walked to my bike. HIS mistake was thinking 4 or 5 punks was a threat to me instead of an amusement. I just backed against the brick wall of the building,put my hand in my coat pocket,and told them " I have a gun in my coat pocket and will shoot anybody that comes after me. I will beat any survivors to death with the gun butt. Bleep with me and find out.",and then I smiled at them and told them to take their time making a decisions because I was in no real hurry. At NO TIME did I take the gun (a Charter Arms Bulldog 44 Special with Valment exploding bullets) out of my pocket or describe it to them so they could call the cops on me and say I pulled it on them.
They shuffled their feet around for a few minutes,and decided they heard their mamas calling,and hauled ass. I guess they COULD have tried to ambush me there the next night,but I didn't think they had the stones,and honestly didn't care if they did. I happened to be more than a little aggressive at the time,and was bored.
It has been MY experience that street punks only attack people they see as defenseless victims. They NEVER go after anybody they think will fight back unless it's a drive-by at 40 mph where one or more of them practices "spray and pray" shooting. On the other hand,I hit what I shoot at,and have been shot at more than once.
I just had a thought. This was in Denver,and there were/are several hard-core Outlaw MC clubs in Denver. Given I was riding a chopped bike,had hair half-way down my back,and a beard several inches long,part of their caution could have been due to fear I was a member of a outlaw biker club. If there is anybody street punks are afraid of,it is outlaw bikers because they KNOW those people WILL come after them if they try to ratpack any of their brothers. I had several friends in different clubs,but was not and have never been a member of a biker club in my life. I was always a lone rider because I liked coming and going according to my own schedule.