The way things work in "ghetto logic" is a guy from the ghetto will kill you for "disrespecting." So instead you act friendly, unafraid, and respectful and that's good enough for them to want to go mug someone else.

If you want to get a good feel for San Francisco ghetto logic, or ghetto logic in general, I recommend the hard to get a hold of documentary, "Straight Outta Hunter's Point" (2003) in which an amateur film maker who was a resident of the Hunter's Point housing projects walked around the low-income housing projects in Hunter's Point and interviewed anyone who would talk to him.