If it were me, i would have lashed out and said something like "Ask yourself: Are you a man or a mouse?" or something witty like that, because I'm not very good in situations like that and usually the person dies a little bit on the inside. Oh, and just for the record, I have a German shepard, and it is the friendliest dog you would ever meet, so I'm not sure if you were being serious or not but I apprieciate you not saying that dogs are gonna eat me at night. Every german shepard I have met is so friendly.
I am 30 years old and have very pronounced scars on the back of my head from being attacked by a German Shepherd when I was 3 years old. It took 170 stitches and 8 hours of surgery to put me back together. It just further proves that one specimen doesn't define the breed.