The best piece of advice about street smarts that someone ever gave me was to always walk with good posture and act like you know where you’re going.

Because if there is someone out there who is potentially looking to cause you some harm, they’ll pick up on your body language right away…so it’s best to at least appear like you are confident and in control.

Let’s hear from AskReddit users about what they think it’s important to know about street smarts.

This one.

“Don’t go home if you’re being followed.

My ex girlfriend was being followed home from her night shift job one night. Onto the interstate, off ramp, then series of neighborhood turns.

She pulled into the 24 hour donut shop, parked between 4 police cruisers, and watched the following car drive on.”

From a reliable source.

“I learned this from a guy who did a lot of prison time.

When you are walking in uncertain areas, stop randomly and look around if someone is following you you’ll put them on notice that you see them and it unnerved the predators when you act like one yourself.”

Good one.

“Follow locals during disasters.

Tornado shelters for the US Midwest, and earthquake shelters for Japan.

Locals know when and where to evacuate.”

Watch your mouth.

“99% of fights start because someone said something offensive to the wrong people.

Be careful to not just run your mouth around people you don’t know. Real life doesn’t always play out like social media.”

NEVER.

“Never go to a secondary location.

I was in a situation where that came up! These five dudes came up behind me and told me to turn down an alley. I asked why, they said they were gonna take all my s**t and if I didn’t cooperate they would stab me.

I said f**k that, sounds like I’m getting stabbed either way, you can stab me here on the main street in broad daylight where an ambulance can find me I’m not walking down no fucking alley.

Thankfully I was not stabbed. It was perhaps the ballsiest thing I’ve ever done but it worked!”

Eyes open.

“Watch people’s hands and how they’re positioning if you find yourself in a scenario where you’re talking to someone you didn’t expect to, and when walking about, be aware of your surroundings and who’s behind you, but don’t look panicked when doing so.”

Fight dirty.

“There are no fair fights.

Fair fights are for suckers, but I would say go for kicking the knee in a direction other than how it is supposed to bend, preferably sideways over the nuts.

It’s about gender equality, too. They might not have nuts, but if they ain’t got knees, you can probably outrun them.”

Just say no.

“If a random guy says, “Hey man, do you want to see something?”, you don’t.

You definitely don’t want to see something.”

Yes.

“Always look both ways when crossing the street.

I see so many people only look one way when crossing a one way street.

There isn’t some magic force stopping cars coming the other direction. I can definitely get a car down there the wrong way if i wanted to. Hell, I’ve done it by accident before!”

Walk tall.

“If you have to walk through a sketchy location, walk like you’re on a mission.

Not a fast walk. Walk like your walking to chew someone out. Don’t be afraid to look someone in the eye, but don’t stare.”

Words to live by.

“Don’t put yourself in bad situations from the very beginning

If you never been in the hood, stay the f**k outta there

You can’t lose money if you never brought any

Don’t leave your laptop in the car

Don’t park your car there at all.”

Do you have any tips about street smarts?

If so, talk to us in the comments.

Thanks a lot!