One thing to think about.
A criminal is "a criminal of opportunity."
If two men approach him, one with a cane and one not? The criminal is likely to attack the man with the cane thinking he is handicapped in some way. Easy target.
Now if he looks like Dan Severen and is holding a cane like a swagger stick? Then attack is unlikely. But if you use it to walk, maybe.
However, Mark Shuey, my wife and I were in Germany doing seminars a few years back, and we got stuck in a weird train and travel schedule. It was about 2 am! Franfurt-not always a safe place. We three were walking from the train station on the 3/4 mile trek back to the hotel. Part of the trip was crossing through a dark office complex courtyard. As we crossed the avenue from the station and headed toward the courtyard of the complex, a car with no less than 5 guys jumped the curb and turned sideways right behind us.
I knew in an instant, instinctively that there was no good reason for these guys to do this. At first the three of us spread out backing into the dark courtyard, which was also an instinctive escape path but I yelled out "No. If there is a fight, we'll fight here in the light," and Shuey and I advanced on the car. The guys on our side cracked opened their car doors but we were so close and shifting around like defensive ends in football, I guess they just instinctively knew they couldn't get out.
The driver said something, they shut the doors and rolled away. We waited and watched them leave, not wanting to enter the dark courtyard complex to soon. They could have easily driven right through this courtyard after jumping the curb. And they could have circled the block and met us on the other side! But, we never saw them again.
But I remember crowding the car doors and seeing Shuey with his cane up at port-arms position, ready to go. And I remembering feeling, "Damn, I wish I had a cane, too!"
Hock
