That’s why we can’t have nice things

Asocial media post by a local news channel generated several responses from the public and while there were some differences of opinion, there was a common response among the posts: “That’s why we can’t have nice things.”

That seems to be the consensus over the news that a newly-remodeled and re-opened bridge in Los Angeles is drawing negative attention.

Over the weekend, onlookers scaled the 6th Street Bridge near downtown Los Angeles to watch drivers do burnouts and drift along the viaduct.

The viaduct has been featured in many movies from “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” to “Gone in 60 Seconds” and “Beverly Hills Cop III,” but perhaps one of the most iconic scene is from “Grease,” when Danny Zuko (John Travolta) raced Greased Lightning against Leo’s Hell’s Chariot. Leo was played by Dennis Stewart.

The viaduct reopened after undergoing a $588 million bridge project. It’s the largest bridge project in the history of Los Angeles and the re-opening was marked with a community celebration on July 9 and 10, complete with live music, food trucks, a market, vintage car display and fireworks, as well as the lighting of the bridge.

While spectators gathered for those two days to celebrate the project, others decided to scale the archway on Sunday, to watch the spectacle of burnouts and drifting.

Those who made comments of “that’s why we can’t have nice things” are right. The old saying, “One bad apple spoils the bunch” also applies to this situation — and any others in which adults act in ridiculous, reckless and destructive ways.

Instead of appreciating the fact that the project was finally completed and a revamped viaduct was unveiled, some had to take their actions to the extreme and do dangerous burnouts and drift, which, in itself, is another dangerous feat.

It’s not just an attitude that affects those in Los Angeles, however. It seems to be something we experience everywhere, in the ways people behave.

Nice, new things don’t last for long before they are destroyed in some way.

We predict that there will be some sort of measures in place soon enough that will keep people from scaling the arches and others from gathering to do stupid car stunts.

No doubt, graffiti will soon mar the new viaduct, too, like so many other buildings and bridges in Los Angeles — and beyond, to include the Antelope Valley.

Why can’t we have nice things and simply appreciate them?