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When someone is street smart, it means they have a good situational understanding and awareness. In simple words, they know what is going on around them and how to navigate that environment. The way they go about it is practical, generally resulting from real-life experience.

But since we all have different backgrounds, many of us didn't even get a chance to learn these lessons. However, you never know what situation you can end up in, and knowing how to respond to danger, or simply getting the best bang for your buck, can make a huge difference to your day.

Recently, Uber Facts, an online project that shares "the most unimportant things you'll never need to know" and one that we covered in the past, tweeted a question, asking, "People with 'street smarts,' what's your biggest street tip?" and received plenty of useful replies. So we decided to compile the best ones and give you a chance to learn something new. Continue scrolling and upvote the entries you like the most.

More info: Twitter

Image credits: UberFacts

#1

People-Share-Street-Smart-Tips-Advice

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Children usually learn about their own relative smartness in school. Overwhelmingly, it is poor and/or students of color who are unjustly left feeling not good enough.

Jean Anyon discovered in her work concerning knowledge construction in schools that, "[Working class] children already 'know' that what it takes to get ahead is being smart, and that they themselves, are not [book smart]."

Additionally, Black and Latino students have been overly-represented in special education programs and gifted programs often result in re-segregating schools, where the White students attend the gifted program while students of color are tracked into 'regular' educational programming.

#4

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Beth S
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Absolutely. Instinct is so important - our brains pick up on changes in nuances. It could literally save your life.

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Black children as early as pre-school begin to be over-represented in what is perceived as "low ability" classes and/or classes for the "educable mentally retarded."

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As mentioned above, assignments to these classes can be devastating to the students' self-perception and they may even begin to think of themselves as not smart.

Consequently, this can lead these students to have low achievement, a lack of motivation, and a desire to drop out of school altogether. The failures of many of these children are often attributed to their own abilities rather than their school's.

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#9

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CLG
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Great advice, I'll have to remember this when walking home alone late at night. 🤨

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As Dr. Beth Hatt said, the youth think the symbols of smartness within schools include grades, diplomas, labels, standardized tests, and participation in college prep courses.

These things are what make smartness appear "real" rather than as something socio-culturally produced. They make smartness especially powerful because it becomes extremely difficult for students to challenge the ways it gets defined and how they are constructed as smart or not smart in school.

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Simultaneously, these symbols begin to influence students' perceptions of themselves and their own abilities over time.

#10

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Green Machine
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And 'winning' is when both parties understand each other better as a result.

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#11

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Beth S
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a very important tip.... especially the mind your business portion.

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#12

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Pilar
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I see de pros, but, on the other side, some may take you for a easy victim 😕

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#13

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Pat Head
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would add that you should reverse/back into every parking space (if possible). One quick motion forward to escape is a lot easier than reversing, changing gears, then moving forward.

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Students who struggle to acquire the before-mentioned symbols of smartness are left to either perceive themselves as not smart or to reinterpret smartness.

When Dr. Hatt asked what they thought it meant to be smart, the youth responded with definitions that included learning what is being taught at school and how not to get caught by the police when selling drugs.

"However, two key themes overwhelmingly were present in their responses," Dr. Hatt said. "First, they clearly made a distinction between being book smart and street smart. Second, they refused to define smartness in a narrow way."

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#15

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Péter Rózsahegyi
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because lots of cars have darkened windows, we usually use the hazard warning lights' triangle button for 2 flashes.

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#17

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Bear Hall
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How come? Unless you are far from a dry place you'd better run to get there before you get soaked. Well, if there's no such place around you might as well walk and apply some shampoo on your hair.

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"At first, this appeared contradictory because the youth seemed to be simultaneously defining street smart as the ultimate form of smartness while also defining smartness in a way that allowed everyone to be defined as smart."

"Eventually, I realized that these were not necessarily contradictory definitions. Instead, they were both attempts at agency in speaking back to the narrow definition of smartness that had been imposed upon them in school and an attempt at reinterpreting their own identities," Dr. Hatt said.

#18

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Ivana Bašić
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And if no one yawns back, either you're wrong or you're in more trouble than you thought.

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King Kashue
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yawns only get mirrored when they're real. Research has born this out. The same "unconscious" processes that lead to mirrored behavior also can distinguish between natural and unnatural body language, etc. It's also the source of the "Uncanny Valley" effect with faces - 2 million years of evolution has led to a very refined - if unconscious and often difficult to explicate - ability to determine natural from unnatural/when things are "off"/etc.

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Mike Beck
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not entirely true. I often get scolded for faking a yawn well enough to trigger one in others; usually when they're on the phone/headset. Possibly because I mimic the yawn-while-talking effect. Heck, sometimes it triggers a real yawn in myself; which is odd since other people yawning doesn't usually affect me.

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Nicky
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you yawn, it triggers yawning in people observing you.

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D K
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yawning, in most cases, is contagious. Although I think that if someone was watching me with ill intentions, they would be too “tuned in” to their next move to even feel a yawn coming for themselves

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Gaya Knust
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because unless the person is incapable of feeling empathy, they will yawn as well.

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Chaotic-Pansexual (she/they)
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It may be more effective if you simply make yourself yawn. A fake yawn may not always work but if you just forceful yourself into a yawn (easier than you’d think), you’re more likely to catch them. Unless they’re a psychopath

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Tim Pierce
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm a cab driver and I've had ppl in my backseat completely minding their own business, but if I yawn they follow suit, even if they don't know I'm doing it.

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Samantha
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I will yawn if I see or hear a yawn; TV, photo, peripheral vision... And it doesnt have to be a human who yawns; cats, dogs, bunnies, unicorns... Also, if I see the word yawn in writing. I've yawned three times since I started typing.

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Kim Kermes
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

True sociopaths lack this reflex, so it's handy to find that out, too.

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Paddling Panda
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've literally yawned twice reading through the comments, so yeah, I like this tip.

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Craig Reynolds
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would immediately move towards them aggressively while fumbling for a non-existent weapon unless, of course, I really had a weapon.

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Michael Sanders
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1 year ago (edited)

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Jesus. Come the f on. I mean I know the world can be an unsafe place and you need to have awareness but a lot of these things are describing a world of perpetual fear. And I know people may say “well you’re a man”…still…come on. Being watched? 90% of the time on any side you are thinking about them more than they are thinking about you.

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Blackstone
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, but it's the 10% I'm concerned about. And it's not perpetual fear, it's perpetual awareness and developing safety habits, so you don't even have to think about it. I'm not scared when I walk into a store or walk to my car. But you can bet your ass I'm walking with purpose, scanning my environment, I have keyless entry, so that's not an issue, and I make eye contact with the people I'm around. I don't even think about it. I just do it. And if something ever seems off, I address the issue by taking different precautions.

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#20

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Paul C.
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If their "crazy" meshes with my crazy, then they are probably a bit odd, because I am.

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When Dr. Hatt asked the youth to define smartness they were quick to define it as book smarts vs. street smarts.

Book smarts were directly connected to the symbols mentioned previously but street smarts were often defined as a direct counter to book smarts or the dominant discourse of smartness.

The following include some of the ways the youth defined street smarts:

"Able to not go into bankruptcy I guess... and stay out of trouble. Just able to survive on the street without getting into trouble, and keeping a home for yourself and everything going," Calveda.

#23

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Agent 8433599
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

♪ Don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious ♪ Wait- do be suspicious!

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#24

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Lsai Aeon
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Commit yourself to a wheelchair for a day, you'll learn that situational awareness REAL fast. And also start to understand the plight of those of us who live full time in a wheelchair or with different disabilities

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#25

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Falcon
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Easy solution to this is having a second email address for occasions like that. I have 2 email addresses, one for random crap and one that's important.

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"If you can make ends meet, whether you're educated or not... like in school I was a book smart type person, but when I dropped out I had to learn the street smarts part of it. And yeah, I was 19 years old, 20 years old, and I had $30,000 and I could do anything I wanted with it, but yet it was illegal," Nickili.

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"I believe I have some street smarts. Like I've never been arrested for drugs... I know not to walk around here with all these drugs on me broadcasting it. I mean, that would be stupid... I know when trouble should occur that I need to leave, and get out of that situation, or I have to handle my business, or not handle my business," Quinn.

#27

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Mazer
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At annATM, you need to be aware of your surroundings BEFORE you ever get close to the machine

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#29

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Bob Joe
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or stand behind one of those pillar things, so no one can push you in the pit.

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"Street smarts were connected with being able to maneuver through the structures in their lives such as poverty, the police, street culture, and abusive 'others,'" Dr. Hatt said. "This distinction is key because street smarts stress agency in countering social structures or obstacles whereas, for many of the students, book smarts represented those structures or obstacles, particularly in their efforts of passing the GED or acquiring 'papers.'"

This begs the question, why is teaching (and, in turn, learning) so fragmented? Can't we figure out a way how to teach the young in a more inclusive manner? One that doesn't force them to choose between books and the street? But that's a topic for another time.

#31

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Strawberry Pizza
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not just on the street or whatever - this can apply to a lot of situations

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#33

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Eleanor Green
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, first it's hello back, then him "what's your name", or wevs. Then the insults fly and if you're lucky, they give up. Not all men, but enough men. So no to your post, as nice as you might be.

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#34

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Stephanie A Mutti
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"You can only fool someone who thinks you are weaker than them one time" - Sabretooth

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#37

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Kimberly Lorton
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I never use my cell or ear buds when I am out or walking somewhere. I use a cane and its too enticing I think, to a criminal, if they see this! I also carry my purse cross body and am prepared to use my cane as a club or weapon.

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#38

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QueenRhye
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'd say keep cash in multiple pockets so you can hand them the cash from your front pocket and they think they've got it all, but you've got a reserve in the back, or the other side. If they're going to steal your money, they're probably going to steal your phone. That's my tip.

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#40

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Scagsy
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, go ahead and trick the little independent restaurant into giving you a four cover table when you only need two. In fact, why not go the whole hog and book the entire restaurant out so you and Briony can have a little intimate time without all the NPCs crowding you out?

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