I'm assuming there is a lot of regional variation here, the wasps near my house have never caused much trouble, they just eat dead mice and large grasshoppers. One even let me pet it recently. We did end up nuking a nest inside the garden hose box a few years back, but I doubt the wasps chose a problematic location intentionally.
We put some raw chicken in a wasp trap once and my god, I’ve never seen so many wasps in one place. The thing was almost a quarter full by the end of the day.
Wasps generally won't fuck with you, but here's a pro tip.
It's been shown that they can recognize and remember human faces. No idea how they have enough wetware for that kind of pattern recognition, but whatever.
So, do not look at them! And for damn sure don't wave your arms about. If they think you're any sort of threat, it's game on.
Had a nest over my front door for months and they didn't hassle me or my pig, and we went in and out that door frequently. Pointedly ignoring them worked, but I finally nuked the nest so none of my friends would get stung.
I'd had this over my front door for however long it took for them to build it. My pest control service said the size of the nest can affect how aggressively defensive they might respond to perceived intruders. I guess maybe I was just lucky we caught this one before it got any more developed.
There may be some precedent for that. Swarming bees (that's what they're called when they're clumped in random places without a home) are very docile because they have nothing to protect.
The first 4 times I got stung by yellow jackets this year, I can understand. I was encroaching on their territory by walking down a trail. But did they really have to follow me into my truck 40 feet away and continue to sting me inside? Little pricks. Land ownership is theft, wasps!