There are few things sillier to me than the idea that a man is less of a man if he doesn't fight, or if he chooses to disengage from a confrontation. That's weak thinking, that's neanderthal thinking, and that's not intelligent thinking. And lets be frank: fighting or not, we're not going to change notions that some ignorant people have about us. Take the above example of the cage fighters vs the purse snatchers. Clearly, that fighters were not 'punked' in any sense of the word. Their physicality established their apparent manliness. However, some comments on youtube continue to refer to them derogatorily.
In Katie's case - what would have been the point? Those people were ignorant and obtuse. They were dealing with a problem in the only way that simple people can... through threats. Unless one of them had physically attacked her, there would have been no reason to fight. I doubt that stiff words would have ameliorated the situation either.
Another thing to consider with Katie's situation was the presence of children. People are quite protective around their offspring, and wrong or not, it's just a poor idea to push it around people with kids.
For me, I'll draw the line at being physically attacked. Anything less, I can walk away from, and I'll be left without a scar. Sometimes the elevated path is the best one to take. (:
