>>hacks for getting around photographing in public

Unintimidating looking camera gear and using a waist level viewfinder.

I use hand straps on my cameras rather than neck ones or slings for multiple reasons; one of them is less-intimidating looking gear. Also, film-era lenses are a lot smaller than the current ones. For instance, the D-series Nikon 20, 24, and 50mm lenses only protrude about an inch and a half, the 85 only about two and a quarter. Any of those makes a FF camera look small and unintimidating.

Similarly, shooting with the eyepiece against your face (which does reduce camera shake) or held away like a smartphone (which does not) makes the camera an item of visual interest for other people (including your subjects). Holding at waist level makes the camera, and what you're doing less interesting - and has the bonus of an atypical vantage point.

One of my long-ago cameras (an Exacta) had an available waist level finder. I originally got it so I didn't have to carry a tall tripod, but I noticed I could 'get away' with more when using it. Many digital cameras these days have a view panel that can flip open to offer similar. IMO, it's worth checking out.

Oh, and if you're thinking of using a wrist strap, check out OpTech. They have one that attaches to both a neck-strap point and to either the plate (if you’ve got one mounted) or the 1/4–20 tripod mount - so the camera doesn't have a tendency to spin - and it doesn't leave me terrified that I'm going to bounce a couple of grand worth of gear on the ground.