That father was not paying enough attention to his surroundings

That father was not paying enough attention to his surroundings. He had poor situational awareness to let the woman walk up on him in the first place.

Second, when she grabbed him, he froze. If that had been a real threat, those five seconds of paralysis could have ended very badly. He could have been seriously hurt, or one of his children could have been.

If he had been paying attention and prepared, when that woman walked up he could have given her a stern look, held out his hand in a stop sign, and said, “No, back off.”

That alone often calms people down. Most bullies want to harass, but they do not want anyone pushing back. Once they see you are serious, they usually deescalate.

This man, however, looked and acted like a victim, so she felt no hesitation in grabbing him. A child in a man’s body.

Now I do not think of myself as intimidating. I always smile and try to be polite. Yet I rarely find myself in these situations, party because people look at me and decide that bothering me would be bad for their health, so they go mess with someone else.

I pay attention to what happens around me. When I see someone approaching, I know they are coming, and they know I know. I position myself in a way that makes that clear.

Your body posture, your awareness, and your level of fitness all signal whether or not you can be pushed around.