Aaachtung!

Extremely rude Santa Monica building inspector just came into Starbucks on Main Street to issue a "second warning" about verboten chairs and tables outside the store. Aside from the absurdity of the city's attitude toward commercial activity on sidewalks (amenities that enhance the quality of urban life, btw), there is no reason for a public functionary to take an aggressive attitude toward a citizen at all, let alone over a minor infraction of an arbitrary rule. Is Starbucks dissing petty authority? The republic's foundations shudder.