and maybe a part 3
AMEN to Xavierbreath.
I crack up at reading about getting into fistfights, popping people in the face, etc. Hey, I'm a 51-year old woman, I don't do fistfights. I *DO*, however, do "smart". Unfortunately, I also don't do running (falling down and breaking my ankle is not real tactical)
So my brains really are my primary self defense weapon.
God willing, I would have been watching these yahoos set this up BEFORE Mr. Mexican Carry ever got close enough to accost me. By the time he did, my hand would already have been on the grip of my gun. Not flashing, not threatening, but it WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE. I would have already been looking for ways to escape before it started; duck into a store, hail a cab, "greet a friend" (yell "HI THERE!!!!" at somebody just behind him) and take advantage of the moment of confusion to get elsewhere, or, if none of those could work, make certain he knew I knew he was there and up to no good and I was ready for him.
Those are some pre-situational things that can avoid the problem in the first place. You guys can come up with more and better ones, I'm sure, but the thing is, do not blunder along in a fog so that this guy, or ANY GUY, can EVER take you by surprise.
Springmom who can't run but keeps her eyes open and her brain on