New York Times 編輯 Brent Staples 因為膚色的關係，常被誤認為強盜，行人和他對面走過立刻弓縮，所以他只好發明一種方法自保：

And on late-evening constitutionals along streets less traveled by,
I employ what has proved to be an excellent tension-reducing
measure: I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more
popular classical composers. Even steely New Yorkers hunching
toward nighttime destinations seem to relax ,and occasionally even
join in the tune. Virtually everybody seems to sense that a mugger
wouldn’t be warbling bright, summy selections from Vivaldi’s Four
Seasons. It is my equivalent of the cowbell that hikers wear when
they know they are in bear country.

From ”Just Walk By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public
Space”