Etiquette lessons from Slate

Swap black/white in in place of male/female in this Slate advice column and imagine the results:

Q. Late Night Sidewalk Etiquette: I'm a young man who works late as a bartender in an urban area. I walk home usually at 2 a.m. I often find myself half a block behind women (either alone or in pairs) going home the same route. How do I act so that they don't fear me as a potential predator? Cross the street? Slow down (looks like stalking) or greet them (equally creepy)? Help!
A: There is nothing that gets a woman's sympathetic nervous system on high alert like hearing footfalls behind her at 2 a.m. Thanks for being sensitive to this. Since you see the woman looming ahead of you, it would be a nice thing to do to cross the street before you're close enough so that she starts glancing behind her, clutching her purse.