Same situation with me. My wife and kid and I were walking across a big plaza area in Inner Harbor after a wedding in the city. I saw out of corner of my eye three “youths” running at an intersecting angle about 100 yards away. We were more than 100 yards from any other persons.
I braced the wife and said to stop and see if they changed their run. They did and angled toward us. About 30 feet from us, I squared to them and very obviously put my hand in my jacket. I wasn’t carrying but I thought if I looked bold and obvious about it, I could bluff them.
It worked. They looked like someone pulled back on the reins as they stopped short and started stuttering about bus fare. I stood perfectly still while I told them no.
They slunk off and I kept my hand in my jacket until we made it to a “safer” area.
I know we would have been robbed had I not bluffed them. Closest I’ve ever been to being robbed. I will never go to Baltimore again.
I can visualize that 100%...good job, and I am glad for you that they didn’t call the bluff...
Ugh. Makes me shudder. I got jumped by four or five guys when I was in the USN, and to buy time, I tried to pretend I knew martial arts, but that bluff only bought me about 10 seconds while they circled me just a bit more warily than they probably otherwise would have.