Another story even earlier, when I live in Oakland in the 80s. One day, walking over a deserted overpass, I passed by another pedestrian who I somehow sensed va

Another story even earlier, when I live in Oakland in the 80s. One day, walking over a deserted overpass, I passed by another pedestrian who I somehow sensed vague hostility from. As we passed, quick as a wink, he punched me but just as quickly I instinctively blocked his punch (my history of playground fights came in handy). He simply continued walking as did I. Which is to say my anecdotal experiences agree with the statistics - violence has been on the decline in the US for a while. Remember, this is a country with a considerable "frontier history" where violence on all sides was common.