What better way to ring in the holidays than with a water cannon and hundreds of riot police?

A strange thing about this particular riot was that Starbucks (where I was standing) was a complete island of tranquility throughout the entire thing. Despite the fact that it's totally outdoors and delineated only by a one-step rise off the pavement, not a single rioter or police offer set foot within those sacred grounds. The whole thing flowed around us like water passing a rock in the middle of a river. The customers calmly sipped their coffee and surfed the net on their laptops as if nothing at all was happening.