Just a quick question regarding whether our approaches should depend on the situation. This happens to me on a regular basis walking around a major U.S. city. Mostly it's homeless people with clear mental disabilities.

I know logically the best thing to do is to ignore them to avoid escalation and not risk my physical safety, but but it just feels icky and like I'm running away with my tail tucked between my legs. It's not good for my self-esteem and unfortunately this mentality of "be the bigger person and ignore them; don't endanger yourself," tends to bleed over into more significant interpersonal relations like at work or with acquaintances. (Also, if I happen to glance at them they yell at me; if I actively avoid them they also yell at me asking why I'm pulling away.)

I've tried telling the street harassers off or glaring at them, but they just seem to relish the attention. So I don't think that's the right solution either.

I've tried walking or "thinking" bigger with an imaginary bubble of boundaries around me. It somewhat seems to work. Constant reminders it's not me it's them.

Still, it wears me down.

What do you recommend in terms of actions or reframing my thoughts (besides moving, which we're working on)? I've thought about reframing it as "I'm taking action by fleeing instead of freezing" to position myself as a more active respondent.

Thanks for reading this long response.