How do you go from book smart to street smart?

Here's one tip, if someone randomly tries to befriend you in an aggressive way, they do not

have your best interest at heart.

An example would be if you're walking down the street and someone goes, hey, what's up?

Where are you from, buddy?

Also applies to the standard pickup artist tactic of some bro being aggressively friendly and then jostling your

confused butt away from whatever girl you were chatting with. My favorite strategy for dealing with

people who do this is match and overcome their enthusiasm with your own. They yell salutations at

you, you roar eternal love at, and bear hug them. Just make sure to watch your pockets so they don't steal anything.

If you're traveling, never randomly stop on the sidewalk to consult a map or appear visibly lost.

Duck into a coffee shop or something to orient yourself. I agree with this one. If you're in a

big city and appear as a tourist, you're a prime target. Listen to your gut. If someone feels off, don't ignore that

feeling. Be freaking aware of where you are and how you're presenting yourself. Develop a 1,000-yard

stare and wear it in rough neighborhoods. If you don't look approachable, you won't be approached.

Fights aren't like the movies. Duh. Someone will go to jail, someone will get hurt,

and it can end very, very badly, regardless of how experienced at fighting or angry the participants are.

I'm a bartender at a large dance club, so I see a good deal of fights on the weekends from

tough guys and girls with tons of street cred and street smarts. Let me just clear

this up now. Fighting, even if it's ruled as a mutual participant crime, is still assault, and you'll

go to jail most likely, even if you're released shortly after or never fully charged with the crime.

Read, you lost or weren't the instigator. People get hurt all the time, really badly. Concussions

are ridiculously easy to get when people are taking blows to the head and falling over,

...