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1->"''My mom was one of those angry moms that gets mad at absolutely everything. Once when I was little I knocked a [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Flintstones]] glass off the kitchen table and my mom said, 'Well, DAMMIT, we can't have nice things!'''"
2-->-- '''Paula Poundstone'''
3
4Imagine things are just going ''great''. Maybe the world is at peace; there are no warring factions. Everybody gets along and there is NoPoverty or disease or anything else that sucks. Then some asshole has to come along and ruin it for everybody else.
5
6[[TitleDrop This is why we can't have nice things]].
7
8You've probably heard your mother say this once or twice. This {{Stock Phrase|s}} turns up whenever clumsiness or stupidity once again wrecks something, especially something monetarily valuable or precious. It can also be applied to plans, historically significant things, or emotionally significant things. It's not limited to tangible objects, however.
9
10This trope refers to the act itself and not the perpetrator, however in most cases the "crime" needs to actually have a sentient perpetrator in order to qualify. Crappy situations which are inherent and are naturally occurring with no definable source of blame on an entity or a group of entities do not count; it needs a scapegoat. Usually the destructive saviors belong to this trope because after every battle what used to be full of objects now looks like a wasteland.
11
12A few common scenarios when it comes to Why We Can't Have Nice Things that ''aren't'' limited to tangible objects:
13
141) '''[[{{Troll}} The perpetrator is selfish and/or malicious, with the full intention of ruining everyone's fun.]]'''
15
16Example: Everybody always goes out on Friday night to have fun with their friends. Bob, however, does not have any friends and is extremely jealous. Bob decides to commit vandalism and general mayhem, which in turn causes the enactment of a curfew for everybody.
17
182) '''The perpetrator is selfish and/or malicious, [[DidNotSeeThatComing but largely ignorant of the full extent of damage their actions will cause]].'''
19
20Example: Vampires and werewolves are at peace with one another. Bob the werewolf is dating Alice, the princess of vampires, but one day decides to have an affair with Carol the werewolf. Alice, the beloved princess, decides to commit suicide in a fit of despair. I'm sure you can guess [[FurAgainstFang what happens next]].
21
223) '''The perpetrator is either [[HanlonsRazor ignorant of the outcome, careless or innocent]], instead thinking they are doing what they consider to be the right thing. This largely depends on perspective, as you'll see in the example -- because what is considered fun or nice to one person, may not be felt the same way by another. In fact, this disruption might be a godsend.'''
23
24Example: Bob and Alice routinely make fun of Suzanne behind the teacher's back. Carol notices and decides to tell the teacher, who in turn punishes Bob and Alice and prevents future occurrences that are at Suzanne's expense. Bob and Alice's fun has been ruined.
25
26WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings is a subtrope, when the "nice things" in question are relationships with the artist.
27----
28!!Examples
29
30[[foldercontrol]]
31
32[[folder:Advertising]]
33* A NoTalkingOrPhonesWarning combined with an advertisement for Advertising/MAndMs employs this concept. In the ad, the M&Ms are in a movie and Red M&M is trying to save several of his fellow M&Ms who are strapped to a TimeBomb. Suddenly, a phone rings (ostensibly in the theater audience), ruining the scene, and Red stalks off in a huff, complaining that this is why they can't make movies. As the clock continues to count down, one of the M&Ms asks worriedly why it's still ticking.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
37* One of the Japanese ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' incarnations had an archaeologist beg Optimus to avoid destroying the digging site. Guess what Optimus and the others did to it.
38* Averted in ''Manga/OnePiece'', wherein the Archaeologist {{Lady of War}} Nico Robin refuses to fight in a ruined city so as not to damage anything, and has to flee to a safer place as a result. When the leader of the enemy Mooks traps her into such a confrontation, thus triggering one of Robin's very few {{Berserk Button}}s, it gets... ugly.
39* ''Manga/SoulEater'': During his introduction episodes, Death the Kid ended up destroying an entire pyramid by accident. It was symmetrical, but the pharaoh living there, on the other hand...
40* Shigure of ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' can't even have a [[ThereWasADoor door]].
41* The Phantomhive house staff in ''Manga/BlackButler'', excluding Sebastian, often does more damage than they're supposedly worth. The [[NinjaMaid maid]] constantly breaks things and mixes up wood and shoe polish due to her far-sightedness, the [[ChefOfIron chef]] can't do anything but burn food and cause explosions, and the [[BadassAdorable gardener]] frequently mixes up fertilizer and herbicide. There's a [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass reason]] Ciel keeps them around, though...
42* In ''Anime/DominionTankPolice'', Buaku and the Puma Sisters break into a museum vault to steal a priceless painting kept there temporarily. The painting's owner has hired a merc squad to protect it. Said mercs apparently see no problem with using ''automatic weapons'' in an ''enclosed space filled with priceless artifacts''.
43* In the ''Franchise/DotHack'' series, the Crimson Knights used to regulate PlayerKilling by hunting down infamous [=PKer=]s and punishing them, sometimes working with CC Corp to punish [=PKers=] that killed players by cheating. When the Crimson Knights fell apart, [=PKing=] got so ridiculously out of hand that CC Corp was forced to remove the mechanic entirely (paving the way for a lack of [=PKers=] in the first video game quadrilogy), making it an odd in-universe example of WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings.
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder:Comedy]]
47* Creator/JeffFoxworthy's "Games Rednecks Play" CD regales the listener on how he and his brother play-wrestled and knocked over a family heirloom (his father's Jack Daniel's [[Music/ElvisPresley Elvis]] decanter) with an ironing board. Their mother yells "This is why we can't have nice things!"
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Fan Works]]
51* This is included in the 12th chapter of ''Fanfic/TheVow'' to the conversation between [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2 Lord Shen and Zhan the Wolf Boss]] about the BarBrawl the latter took part in with his troops while visiting the Shēnghuó Province:
52-->'''Shen''': ...I did ''not'' teach you to disregard [[SacredHospitality the rules of hospitality]]! I thought I employed better then tavern-brawling thugs!
53-->'''Zhan''': Damned cats wanted to pick a fight, sir. One of ours had a bit too much to drink — a young whelp, Azure. They thought they'd beat up one of my men, [[AFatherToHisMen I wasn't havin' it]]. Stinking cats want to [[CatchPhrase mess with the wolf, they'll get the fangs]]!
54-->'''Shen''': So you had your whole guard trash the tavern?
55-->'''Zhan''': Not my problem if the stupid cats wanted to plant their faces in the walls... repeatedly.
56-->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Shen]]''': And ''this'' is why you can't have nice things!
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
60* ''Jane Austen's Mafia'' has this being spoken [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZzB1-NIVtA as one character angrily throws some nice flower vases at another]].
61* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' has the habit of destroying various landmarks in Tokyo, both historic and modern.
62** ''[[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters]]'' provides a fine example: Tracking the wounded Godzilla, MONARCH finds an ancient city beneath the ocean, where Godzilla has come to rest. It's the historical and archaeological find of the ''millennium'', but Godzilla needs to be healed in order to fight King Ghidorah ''right now'', and the only way to do that is to set off a nuke in his face. For mankind to survive, the city ''has'' to be destroyed.
63* ''Film/JamesBond''
64** Bond fights a bad guy in an Italian glass museum in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''. There had been a tour through the museum earlier, just to establish [[PricelessMingVase exactly how priceless]] each piece was. [[TrashTheSet It goes like you'd expect.]]
65** Averted in ''Film/DrNo'': "That's a Dom Perignon '55, it would be a pity to break it."
66** Almost averted in ''Film/AViewToAKill''. Bond is fighting thugs at Stacey Sutton's home, and picks up an urn to use as a weapon. Stacey screams in protest -- and Bond hands it to her before continuing the fight. But at the end she's forced to smash it on a thug's head.
67--->'''Stacey:''' It was granddad's ashes. But he always loved a good fight.
68* Creator/JackieChan has subversions in several of his movies. Somebody tosses a PricelessMingVase [[Film/RushHour at him.]] He knows it's priceless. And so he spends the entire fight beating up the bad guy while doing [[JuggleFu aerobatics with his own body and the vase]] so it doesn't break. It's a martial arts prowess DishDash, essentially. And when the fight is over, he puts the vase back. And, in a DoubleSubversion, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption it gets shot]].
69* Inverted in ''Film/TheDaVinciCode'', where the heroes escape from the Louvre by holding a priceless painting hostage. In the screen sequel ''Film/AngelsAndDemons'', Langdon and Vetra are out of time, and rip out a page of the priceless Diagramma to take along with them.
70* ''Film/MarsAttacks'' has the aliens destroying Earth's landmarks [[AliensAreBastards for giggles]].
71* Played with in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', where Henry Jones inadvertently brains his son with what appeared to be a Ming dynasty vase. He was initially more concerned about the loss of the artifact than the damage to Indy's skull (hey, he ''is'' an archaeologist), but on closer examination was relieved to discover it was a fake.
72* Parodied in ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice''. The titular team blows up all sorts of important landmarks every time they face off against the villains.
73* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', Creator/NicolasCage has to steal the Declaration of Independence to prevent the villain from getting his mitts on it. Throughout the movie, he treats the document with due respect and at the end of the movie returns it to the authorities, none the worse for wear. There's an awesome scene where he's holding the Declaration, in its frame, and the bad guys break in and see him just about to get in the elevator. [[TheDragon Shaw]] shoots him in the chest. Luckily, as previously mentioned, [[ChekhovsGun the Declaration is under bulletproof glass]], and Ben gets into the elevator, smirking.
74* ''Film/IronMan1'':
75** During one of the rocket boot tests, Tony ended up landing on one of his [[CoolCar very nice cars]]. Everyone with a remote interest in cars cringed.
76-->'''Stark:''' OK, this is where I don't wanna be. Not the car, ''not the car''!
77** Later in the movie, he overestimates the structural integrity of his house's roof after coming home from a successful Mk 2 suit flight test, crashes through the upper floor, through a grand piano, through the lower floor, and butt-first ''right'' onto the car he singed earlier during his boot/gauntlet flight test. After one of his barely competent helper bots [[BrickJoke sprays him down with fire retardant]], he just slowly lays his head on the wreck out of tired exasperation.
78* In ''Film/ThePinkPanther2006'', Clouseau is questioning a wealthy casino owner named Raymond Laroque in his home. He asks to look at Laroque's vases and accidentally gets his hands stuck in them. Just before leaving, he asks Laroque if they're real. Laroque tells him they're worthless fakes. Satisfied, Clouseau tries to smash them on a table, breaking the table. As he leaves, a horrified Laroque mumbles that the desk was priceless.
79[[/folder]]
80
81[[folder:Literature]]
82* In ''Red Phoenix'', the AcePilot and his civilian {{Love Interest|s}} are sightseeing in Korea, and they visit a centuries-old fortress, which is marked with damage from being used as a defensive position in the UsefulNotes/KoreanWar. The woman laments that such a historic place had to be damaged in such a way, and the pilot points out that was pretty much the fortress's designed purpose.
83[[/folder]]
84
85[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
86* The Doctor in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath City of Death]]", with a big black marker.
87** Subverted in the same serial when Duggan is about to smash a chair over the butler's head.
88--->"Duggan, what are you doing? Put it down! For heaven's sake, that's a Louis Quinze!"
89* ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}''. Members of the Watcher's Council have trouble with their charges lack of respect for antiquity.
90** In the BTVS episode "Gingerbread", Buffy grabs some paper to draw a magical symbol she saw on a dead body. As the paper is a valuable parchment from the 12th Century, Giles quickly removes it and hands Buffy a notebook.
91** In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Disharmony", ditzy vampire Harmony rips a page out of an ancient book to dispose of her gum, causing Wesley to flip out.
92-->'''Wesley:''' ''What'' are you doing?!?! This book is 12 centuries old!!
93-->'''Harmony:''' Okay, so it's not like I messed up a new one.
94* One of Harry Hill's sketch shows has the Brigadier from ''Series/DoctorWho'' bringing a cut-crystal bowl to UNIT HQ, only for a Cyberman to blunder into him and smash it: the Brig complains "You can't have anything ''nice'' around here."
95* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''
96** The final episode of the first season features a shootout between Starbuck and a Cylon in a museum on Caprica, destroying plenty of priceless artifacts in the process. This is made even worse by the fact that due to the fact that Caprica's been nuked to hell at the beginning of the series, this might be the only museum of its kind in the entire ''world'' that's still standing.
97** Through the early seasons, Captain Adama was working on a model sailing ship, but after an incident, he took out his anger by slamming his fist into it. The problem was that this was an ad lib by actor Edward James Olmos, who ''thought'' it was just a prop they provided him. It turned out to be a relatively valuable model lent to the production. Thankfully, it was insured.
98* This line is used occasionally by ''Series/MythBusters'' after they've blown up a car, or any other expensive machinery they've gotten their hands on. Considering that it's implied they often have to go to great lengths to acquire certain vehicles (for example, when the only snow plow they could find for a myth was one that was broken and a nightmare to fix), it's surprising this isn't said more often.
99** Basically {{lampshade|Hanging}}d during their first Jaws special, where they get hold of three of the actual yellow barrel props used in the original movie to test some shark strength myths. They are told point-blank by the owner that "the only thing we can't do is burn them, blow them up, or lose them." The predictable response is "Has he ''seen'' the show?"
100* ''Series/MartialLaw'', created by and starring Creator/JackieChan's friend and frequent director Creator/SammoHung, once had the main character, who has a Jackie Chan-inspired fighting style, pose as an art fence trying to to sell a Ming vase. DaChief is with two detectives outside in the van, and he points out that the suspect is going to be able to tell it's not a real vase. The two detectives say it ''is'' a real vase, and Da Chief goes OhCrap as he realizes what might be about to happen. They all rush inside to save the vase, but a fight has already started. At the end of the scene, Sammo ''tosses'' the vase to Da Chief with a jaunty "See? No damage!" (Outtakes where the actor flubbed the catch reveal they had a crew member on the floor for just that possibility.)
101* For [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]], [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/an0bic/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-the-more-pedophiles-know Barbie dolls potentially being used by pedophiles]].
102* In an episode of ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'', Ray and Robert get into a hilarious fight that involves Bugles, an ugly sweater, and a lamp at Frank and Marie's house. Said parents walk in in the middle of the fight. When Marie notices the broken lamp she quotes the trope - and the meme - word for word. It’s entirely possible that this episode is where the version popularized by Arguecat originated.
103* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'':
104** In the ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S09E07Hobgoblins Hobgoblins]]'' episode, Pearl quotes the trope after she has a couch temporarily moved into the Satellite of Love, only to watch Mike and the 'bots bounce around and squeeze juice boxes on it. The film for the episode is [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment how she punishes them]].
105** And in [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S05E19Outlaw Outlaw of Gor]], Mike, Crow and Tom are good-naturedly "roughhousing", until Mike throws Tom up in the air, he gets stuck in the ceiling and crashes to the deck. Gypsy says "This is why we can't have nice things" and moves off.
106** In TheMovie, while watching ''Film/ThisIslandEarth'', a character complains about blowing out some electronic components, and Mike quips "Oh, we can't have nice things!".
107* For the first five seasons of ''Series/CanadasWorstDriver'', the creators received hundreds of letters from fans ''begging'' the show to stop destroying classic cars in the weekly trials. For the sixth season they destroyed a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. Cue the tears of a nation of car lovers. They drove the point across even further by introducing the car at the beginning of every weekly challenge with zoom-ins and beauty shots of the progressively worse shape of the car, torn-off bumpers and all.
108* In a season 8 ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' Dean throws a beer to Sam, who fails to catch the bottle (the trials are doing a number on him), which then breaks. Dean says "That's why we can't have nice things."
109* ''{{Series/QI}}'': Here, the reason is called Alan Davies. Alan has become so notorious for playing with and breaking antique and rare items lent to the show, that most museums and similar institutions now only lend items to the show with a stipulation that Alan is not to touch said items.
110* In ''Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver'', John and "Wanda Jo" use this phrase to explain why [[ParodyReligion Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption]] is getting closed. Ultimately, people took the requests for "seeds" literally, in a bad way ("There were not one, not two, not three, but ''four pots and/or vials containing semen''. And I think some were fake, but some were not!").
111* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Earl and Randy had discovered that if a certain golfer at a local country club golf course got a hole-in-one, he'd buy everyone at the 19th hole beer. So that they would get more beer (and eventually lunch), they disguised themselves as golfers, and made it seem like he'd gotten holes-in-one every time. The fun was over soon enough, as Randy bragged about their exploits to all the lowlifes at the Crab Shack, who decided to do the same thing, and the country club responded by checking [=IDs=] at the door against their guest list.
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Music]]
115
116* Music/TaylorSwift equates this trope to a rekindled relationship or friendship falling apart due to the friend's betrayal (possibly Music/KanyeWest) in "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things]]".
117* In 2008, Music/RingoStarr caused quite a stir when fans and autograph hunters sent him items to be signed, and afterwards, he posted a video implementing a new policy where he decided to discontinue autographing stuff sent to him.
118[[/folder]]
119
120[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
121* In one ''ComicStrip/GetFuzzy'' cartoon, Bucky breaks a baseball player figurine presumably owned by Satchel. In typical Bucky fashion he wasn't even being clumsy; he just knocked it over because he didn't like the way it was 'looking at him.' Satchel is clearly upset. Rob tells the cat and dog that "See. This is why we can't have nice things."
122[[/folder]]
123
124[[folder:Religion]]
125* Possibly the UrExample is Adam and Eve in Christian and Jewish myth. Eden was basically a natural utopia with farming being incredibly easy, talking animals, and even sex being great (completely painless pregnancy, for instance). There was only one simple rule, don't eat from the Tree of Knowledge. One might think that would be easy, right? Nope.
126* In the Book of Numbers, the Israelites have been journeying through the wilderness of Sinai for 2 years, and when they're encamped in the Wilderness of Paran, Moses selects one man from each tribe to scout the land of Canaan. Ten of the scouts spread an evil report that the land eats the inhabitants, and is populated by giants. Joshua and Caleb tell the Israelites that they can take conquest of the land if they will only trust God, but the congregation wants to stone them to death. After Moses intercedes for the Israelites, God decides not to destroy them, but the Israelites of twenty years or older that murmured against God and participated in the rebellion (except for Joshua and Caleb) will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land, but will eventually die in the wilderness, and their children will have to wait 40 years before they can enter the Promised Land as the older generation gradually dies off in the wilderness.
127[[/folder]]
128
129[[folder:Theatre]]
130* The characters in the musical ''Theatre/OnTheTown'' (and its somewhat different film version) take a trip to the Museum of Natural History, which ends with them demolishing a dinosaur skeleton.
131[[/folder]]
132
133[[folder:Video Games]]
134* The final shootout in ''[[VideoGame/MafiaTheCityOfLostHeaven Mafia]]'' happens in an art gallery (the whole level is actually called "[[FauxSymbolism Death of Art]]"), and a cop whom the protagonist later tells about this actually goes ballistic about how many art pieces were destroyed in it.
135* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'':
136** There are two related quests. Both involve going into the ruins of the Museum of American History to recover artifacts. You can either sell them to a group of slavers who have taken over the Lincoln Monument (and want to destroy them, so they won't be used to help rally slaves) or you can [[RightMakesMight kill the lot of them]] so a group of former slaves can move in (they will also buy the artifacts off you, and enshrine them instead). Notably, one of the pieces of equipment you can find is Lincoln's Repeater, which is a pretty useful gun.
137** The town of Megaton is the subject of this in "The Power of Atom" quest. The city of Megaton is a ramshackle, yet functional, bastion of humanity in the wastes, and is a monument to human survival, as it is a city built in the crater of an unexploded atomic bomb. [[spoiler:And then you can decide to blow it up, and kill everyone in the town, for [[CorruptCorporateExecutive land magistrate Allistair Tennpenny]] because he finds it an eyesore, which just becomes even more petty once you realize that it's barely discernible in the first place.]]
138* The Chicago History Museum mission in Creator/JohnWoo's ''VideoGame/{{Stranglehold}}'' is all ''over'' this trope. Everything from dinosaurs to terracotta statues to lost pieces of architecture gets blown to hell by gunfire as Tequila fights to save Billie [[spoiler:but she is [[OffingTheOffspring killed on her father's orders]] by [[FaceHeelTurn Tequila's former partner, Jerry]]]].
139* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' Kratos gains experience for smashing things. This includes a lot of vases. The game is set in Ancient Greece. In his defense, they're not priceless antiques to him. On the other hand, he'd probably act just the same if they were.
140* They ''are'' priceless antiques in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderUnderworld''. That does not stop Lara casually kicking them to pieces [[strike:to show off her legs]] in hopes of finding power-ups.
141* ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}''
142** In the beginning of ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'', Nathan sneaks into a museum to steal an oil lamp containing a map to the next PlotCoupon. The first thing he does upon getting said lamp is smash it to pieces on the ground.
143** Humorously Sully says this phrase word for word during the ending of ''VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception''. The nice thing that couldn't be had in question? '''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis_of_the_Sands An entire lost civilization]].'''
144* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series, the average player doesn't think twice about countless pieces of family heirloom pottery Link destroys in order to take people's money, [[http://i56.tinypic.com/2rzdxci.gif as exemplified here]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXmMQJMFL_I here]].
145* In the first ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' game one of your missions takes place in an old salt mine where the nazis have stashed art and sculptures they've looted. Have fun wrecking them, the very thing you're supposed to be preventing the Nazis from doing.
146* ''VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame'', even more so than the movie series it's based on. Especially so in the Museum level, where the Proton Packs threaten to destroy priceless historical artifacts (unless the museum owners [[GenreSavvy cunningly switched those artifacts with worthless replicas]]).
147* The ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series should be called "Why We Can't Have Nice Things: The Franchise." Many groups of people, in mythology and history, forever lose privilege because of the actions of one or a few knuckleheads, and many wonders are also forever ruined for the same reason.
148** [[FantasyCounterpartCulture The]] [[ChristianityIsCatholic Chantry]] teaches that the [[{{God}} Maker]] preferred mortals to His first creation ([[OurSpiritsAreDifferent spirits]]), and watched over them from His [[{{Heaven}} Golden City]]... until a handful of [[TheEmpire Tevinter]] [[TheMagocracy magisters]] tried to invade His golden realm, and tainted it with their sin. Now the Golden City is the [[{{Hell}} Black City]], [[JustSoStory those magisters became the first]] [[OurOrcsAreDifferent darkspawn]] [[MysticalPlague that ravaged the world]], and [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere the Maker abandoned the mortal realm]]. This is why we can't have nice things.
149** The Chantry also teaches that the Maker was willing to give humanity a second chance after falling in love with [[CrystalDragonJesus Andraste, his prophet and bride]]... until a handful of Tevinter supporters betrayed and killed her. Then He abandoned humanity for good this time. [[JustSoStory And that's why]] [[CrapsackWorld the world sucks]].
150** After centuries of enslavement under Tevinter, [[EnslavedElves the elves]] were given their own homeland. Then a small band of elves ([[UnreliableNarrator allegedly]]) attacked a small human village, and now the elves don't have a homeland anymore.
151** Mages used to be free, but then a small percentage of them became the tyrannical magisters of [[TheEmpire Tevinter]] (and the darkspawn), so this is why mages (at least in Andrastian society) are kept in Circle towers.
152* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': The Ferelden Circle is on a small island in a large lake. Finn from the Witch Hunt DLC reveals that the mages used to be allowed outside for supervised exercise sessions. Then one day Anders bolted and swam across the lake, knowing the Templars couldn't swim after him in their full plate armor. They caught him a week later, and mages haven't been allowed outside since.
153* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'':
154** Many mages this game, including First Enchanter Orsino, heavily protest this trope, insisting that [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Knight-Commander Meredith]] continually cracking down on all Kirkwall mages because of the actions of a few [[CreateYourOwnVillain just makes things worse for everyone]].
155** [[spoiler: Anders blew up the Chantry, causing Templars everywhere to crack down on all mages, forcing mages all over Thedas to either leave the Circle and fight or get persecuted/killed.]]
156* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'':
157** The protagonist from the first game discovering the Temple of Sacred Ashes (Andraste's burial site) [[CuttingOffTheBranches led to it]] being open to pilgrimages. This led to it being used for a villainous ritual that went wrong and caused a mountain-wide explosion at the game's opening. Now there is no more Temple of Sacred Ashes.
158** The ''Trespasser'' DLC reveals that [[spoiler:all ancient elves were beautiful, immortal, and magical. Then a handful of war-leaders turned kings turned gods became insufferable tyrants, which culminated in them murdering their queen (Mythal) for trying to stop their power-hungry schemes. Then Fen'Harel created the Veil to imprison them, which cut elves off from the magic of the Fade, which caused them to lose their magic, immortality, and magic-fueled wonders. This is why elves can't have nice things]].
159[[/folder]]
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161[[folder:Webcomics]]
162* Lampshaded and averted in [[http://dragon-tails.com/comics/archive.php?date=020129 this]] comic from the superhero arc of ''Webcomic/DragonTails'', where Lemuel looks around the museum for something to throw at the heroes to slow them down while he runs away.
163* In the [[http://www.xkcd.com/374/ first installment]] of the "Journal" series in ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'', someone remarks that "This is why we can't have nice people," after hearing about Black Hat Guy's latest work of evil.
164* Invoked in ''WebComic/LookingForGroup'', when our heroes, comprising [[WritingAroundTrademarks a "Blood Elf", an "Undead", a "female Troll" and a "Tauren"]], get transported through time to a more backwards era - specifically the Apartheid period ''for Tauren.''
165-->'''Benn'joon''': This is why we never get to go anywhere nice.
166* ''Webcomic/GuildedAge'': "Adventurers?! That's why we can't have evil things!"
167* ''WebComic/StandStillStaySilent'': While the crew is in quarantine, Reynir's older brother Bjarni, who happens to be a mechanic on the quarantine ward's boat, is only allowed a two-minute visit during the entire month of the quarantine's duration. While security and limited ressources can account for the number of visits, Bjarni himself gives a good idea of the reason visits are only two minutes long: within that time, he complains about his HazmatSuit being itchy (which is also an early symptom of ThePlague that warrants the quarantine) and tries giving Reynir a fist bump through his cell's ''glass'' wall.
168[[/folder]]
169
170[[folder:Web Original]]
171* The [[MemeticMutation meme]] known as [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things Arguecat]] is an image macro first posted on LiveJournal in 2007, featuring an angry gray cat captioned with the words “This is why we can’t have nice things!”. Considering it uses the exact same wording as the Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond example listed above only a year after the episode aired, it’s entirely possible that was where the meme was initially conceived.
172* In the sixth episode of ''WebVideo/EchoChamber'', Tom wears a FunTShirt that says this, and depicts the Hindenberg crashing into the Titanic.
173* The Website/SomethingAwful forums had the [=OKCupid=] megathread closed down after multiple real-life stalking instances (both online and off) were traced back to users on the thread.
174* For April Fool's Day in 2014, Wookieepedia, the ''Franchise/StarWars'' wiki, featured a somewhat ill-considered prank involving a claim that the site would be switching to paid access, as well as a heavily modified version of the article about breasts including, among other things, a number of slang terms for this particular part of human anatomy. This resulted in criticism outside of Wookieepedia, as well as a doomed attempt to simply delete the article in question. Since then, Wookieepedia has simply not participated in April Fool's Day, despite it having been a tradition since 2006 when it was founded.
175* [[Website/TVTropes This Very Wiki]] has a few examples. For one, the ability to have strike-through text is disabled outside the forums because some editors would be tempted to abuse it for editorially-inappropriate snark.
176* Website/YouTube creator Simone Giertz used to do live-stream videos of opening gift packaged that fans have send to her. Then somebody send her a vibrator. She invoked this trope as to why those videos are pre-edited now.
177* ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' has several example of customers' selfishness either resulting in a policy that benefited customers being revoked, or employees who looked the other way at customers breaking a restrictive policy resolving never to do so again.
178** [[http://notalwaysright.com/not-sue-ted-to-modern-business/ This photo store]] had to stop offering photo-cropping services because too many people tried to sue them for damages despite signing a waiver. The customer they're explaining this to then demonstrates exactly why they stopped.
179** [[http://notalwaysright.com/bugging-out-about-it/ This car rental employee]] stopped telling a joke about charging extra for cleaning bugs off a rental car's windshield after a customer, as usual, took the joke seriously and [[MoodWhiplash nearly went berserk over it]].
180** When [[http://notalwaysright.com/ruined-by-ink/ this customer]] asks why a store doesn't offer credit for recycled cartridges anymore, the clerk replies that people were getting cheap junk cartridges from other brands off the internet and recycling them for more credit than they were actually worth. Sure enough, the customer had been doing that scam himself.
181** [[https://notalwaysright.com/wow-you-really-ruined-it-for-everyone/246290/ An employee]] for a hotel chain decides to use the chain's discounted employee rate for stays at its Hawaii locations to take her family on vacation. However, when they get there, it turns out that she failed to have HR authorize the reservation and she must pay the full reservation. The resultant ear-shattering tantrum the woman throws costs her the trip, her job, and, for everyone else employed at the hotel chain, the employee discount at the chain's Hawaii locations.
182** In [[https://notalwaysright.com/when-the-plane-should-be-doing-the-zoomies-not-its-passengers/308801/ this story]], the crew of a plane rapidly get tired of a mother not doing anything about her child running roughshod around the plane until…
183--->'''Captain (on PA):''' “I’m keeping the seatbelt sign on for the remainder of the flight. Passengers are only allowed out of their seats to use the restrooms. For those who wish to complain about my actions, please mention in said complaints that some customers were unwilling to control their children until it became technically illegal not to do so. I wish most of you a pleasant remainder of the flight.”
184** [[https://notalwaysright.com/stamp-of-disapproval-2/274446/ This postal worker]] isn't supposed to let people in when the post office is closed (like it is during her lunch break), but makes an exception when a woman desperately needs stamps. Then, after the woman turns abusive and demands a refund (stamps are non-refundable), the submitter regrets her decision.
185--->''I no longer open that door during lunch for ANY reason. I don’t give a s*** if it’s some little old lady on the other side who just needs a single stamp to mail a card to her dying father.''
186** [[https://notalwaysright.com/give-them-an-inch-part-2/311040/ This restaurant server]] was willing to let a five-year-old slide on the "under-4s eat free" policy, until the mother immediately claimed her near-teen was ''also'' under 4.
187** [[https://notalwaysright.com/give-them-an-inch-part-2/311040/ And this fast food worker]] let a mother who'd paid for a budget birthday event push what she was getting all the way to the prestiege event, only for her to ''still'' demand a discount because the mascot wasn't dancing enough.
188--->Lesson learned: Say a firm but polite ‘NO’ right from the get-go.
189[[/folder]]
190
191[[folder:Western Animation]]
192* In a ''Film/JamesBond'' parody episode of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', Jackie presses the button to open the suitcase that transforms into a mini-plane so they can get away from the villain's evil lair, only to accidentally send it flying onto the air, alerting the {{Mooks}} to their presence.
193--> '''Jade''': [[DeadpanSnarker See? This is why we can't buy you nice things.]]
194* ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic''. Franklin delights in destroying priceless art with a monster truck.
195-->'''Franklin:''' TakeThat ''Art/{{Guernica}}''!
196-->'''Franklin:''' TakeThat ''[[Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti Birth of Man]]''!
197* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', Superman punched his (invulnerable) opponent right through the Great Pyramid of Giza.
198* In the original ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' in the course of the series -- a single summer vacation: Ben and his family managed to destroy priceless artifacts in a Washington museum, burn that boat stuck at Niagara Falls, ''and'' blow up Mt. Rushmore. And wipe out an entire Mayan pyramid.
199* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'':
200** "Oh No Yono": When Monkeyfist breaks into a museum, he has his monkey ninja throw and attempt to drop valuable artifacts so that our heroes will have to catch them and he can get away.
201** Almost said word-for-word by Drakken when Shego and GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Warmonga got into a fight that resulted in a giant screen getting smashed.
202* In ''WesternAnimation/SantaClausIsCominToTown'', after Burgermeister Meisterburger trips on a toy duck and hurts his foot, he bans and outlaws toys from Somber Town, and it isn't until his successors pass on that the people realize how ridiculous his ban on toys actually was.
203* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'':
204-->'''Mayor:''' Thank you, mysterious heroes! The value of the Gemerald you saved is slightly greater than the cost of the damage you caused to this museum: A net gain for our great city!
205* Taken seriously for once on ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. In one of Robin's nightmares, he fought Slade to prevent him from destroying several statues. He managed to subdue him, but Slade wasn't unhappy about it--"Everything you care about, you destroy." Robin looked around at the ruins of the statues, which suddenly bore the visages of his friends, then pulled off Slade's mask and saw his own laughing face.
206* In the "Serious Business" episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', when Robin gets tired of waiting for such a long time to use the bathroom, he institutes bathroom rationing which limits their visits to 5 minutes, or a bomb will go off. Since the others couldn't finish their leisure activities in less than 5 minutes, they boycott using it, and when he makes them wash up, they get a chance to show him the fun of singing, dancing, playing with hair gel, eating food-shaped water topped with toothpaste, and watching plays where the bathtub and curtain are the stage. After deactivating the bomb, Robin begins to hog the bathroom for himself, and the others have to wait even longer before they can use it. After the others confront him, the bathroom ([[PunnyName whose name is John]]) comes to life and tells him that all the bathrooms came from a destroyed planet to Earth in the hopes they would be appreciated, and after witnessing Robin's blatant abuse of the privilege, all of the other bathrooms leave Earth behind to find a more appreciative civilization that will have more respect for their mysterious magic, all due to Robin's selfish actions ruining it for everyone else.
207* Carefully averted by the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''. Demona flung a vase at Goliath, who caught it carefully, set it down, and ''then'' gave chase.
208* In the opening scenes of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'', Launchpad manages to land his plane without crashing (though it ''is'' upside-down). However, in doing so, he utterly demolishes several ancient ruins.
209-->'''Launchpad''': Coulda been worse. It coulda been something new!
210* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Timmy's Dad constantly says "Why can't I have nice things?!" after seeing all the stuff Timmy wished up from [[strike:Wal-Mart]] the Wall-to-Wall Mart. [[RunningGag He then starts saying this about everything else.]]
211** In "Merry Wishmas", Timmy turns into [[TheAntiGrinch an anti-Grinch]] when he wants to give every disappointed person in Dimmsdale who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas a coupon for one free wish. Everything appears to be going fine... until Vicky feels slighted by just one wish, so she wishes for a million wishes, with some of the extra wishes going to other Dimmsdale residents who go on a wishing spree. In Fairy World, when the big wand gets overloaded, Jorgen traces the problem to Dimmsdale and finds that Timmy is responsible for giving everyone wishes, so he shuts off the magic power and plans to have Wishmas replace Christmas so the fairies can rule the holidays, with Santa Claus moving into Timmy's house after he feels kids don't need him anymore. After capturing Jorgen, Cosmo and Wanda (known as the Magic Mailman and the Mail Mites), Santa comes out of retirement when the kids are disappointed by Wishmas, with the kids filling Santa's sleigh with the mountain of surplus toys.
212* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'', episode "Job Offer", Malory Archer throws a hissy fit when her son leaves ISIS, breaking all the nice things in her office. (Pam: "And that's why she can't have nice things." Cheryl: "Either that or I steal them.") They use the line again at the end of the episode, and in the next one, Dial M for Mother, when Archer bleeds on [[RunningGag the carpet]].
213-->'''Malory''': This is why we can't have nice things.
214-->'''Archer''': Why? Because you keep ''shooting'' them?
215** The exact phrase was used as a running joke in ''WesternAnimation/FriskyDingo''. When the line cropped up again in ''Archer'', a show with the same creators and writers, it may have been a cross-over gag. Not that it wasn't still funny.
216-->'''Trexler''': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmZ3Cvekt14 You see, this is why. This is why we can't have nice things! Barry! You asshole!]]
217* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
218** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E18TrilogyOfError Trilogy of Error]]", Lisa shows Homer the grammar robot she built for her science fair. When the robot corrects Homer's "Me love beer" to "I love beer", he pours beer into its mouth, making it short circuit. Lisa then exclaims this phrase almost verbatim in frustration.
219** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E11WildBartsCantBeBroken Wild Barts Can't Be Broken]]" Homer and his friends go on a drunken vandalism spree of Springfield Elementary in the aftermath of their baseball team's victory in the playoffs. Chief Wiggum blames the students, and when he catches them breaking the resulting curfew, he makes them perform community service. The kids retaliate with a radio show where they reveal the adults' secrets, and this little war of nerves eventually culminates in the [[KidsVersusAdults kids and adults]] confronting each other in a musical showdown, each accusing the other of embodying this trope. Grampa Simpson and the other old folks complain about the noise, and succeed in securing a [[TakeAThirdOption curfew against all under-70's]].
220** In “Team Homer” Bart wears a shirt with the words “Down with Homework”, leading to chaos in Springfield Elementary. As a result, Principal Skinner creates a school uniform to the detriment of the student body. In one sequence, military-like marching can be seen and heard.
221* In''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS1E2ALeafInTheWind A Leaf in the Wind]]", in a fit of frustration, Korra blows up a 2000-year old device for teaching airbending. [[OldMaster Tenzin]] is appropriately horrified.
222* On ''Franchise/{{Transformers}} G1'', an idyllic meadow where wildflowers bloom and butterflies flutter is devastated when the Autobots and Decepticons start brawling over possession of a pool of electrum one of them discovered there.
223* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' Optimus Primal has a similar reaction to Rattrap's behavior:
224-->'''Optimus:''' I swear, I can't take you anywhere!
225* Lampshaded by Mikey himself in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'':
226-->"''You '''know''' I can't be trusted with nice things!''"
227* If something goes wrong in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and it doesn't involve a BigBad or [[TricksterGod Discord]] and it causes something to get ruined, it's probably Pinkie Pie's fault.
228* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': If anything goes wrong and something gets ruined or broken, it will involve [[CatsAreMean Mr. Cat]] and/or [[TheDitz Stumpy]].
229* Appears word-for-word in the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Lincoln Lover". Roger tries to comfort Stan, who is depressed after having missed out on being chosen to speak at the Republican National Convention, by organising a cheese tasting. In the second it takes Roger to fetch his journals to record their impressions of the fancy imported cheeses, Stan has scoffed the entire tray in one mouthful. A tearful Roger storms out muttering "...can't have nice things!".
230[[/folder]]
231
232[[folder:Real Life]]
233* Part of the reason why photos of UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden's corpse will not be released to the public is because of fears that it will be used as [[ForumSpeak Garbage Post Kid]] bait.
234* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulgas_Water_Temple Pulgas Water Temple]] in California, long cherished by meditators and quiet LSD trippers, used to be 24/7/365. Now it has strictly enforced hours due to bad behavior from tourists.
235* The September 11th terrorist attacks are the reason why security at airports and other major travel venues are so jacked up that the process of getting on board the plane can take longer than the actual flight.
236* The [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Athens 2004 torch relay]] was the first Olympic torch relay to travel internationally to every continent instead of just the usual relay routine. The following Beijing 2008 torch relay did the same thing, but quickly became infamous for being heavily sabotaged by Pro-democracy, Pro-{{UsefulNotes/Tibet}}, and other Anti-Chinese government protesters. This reached the point that many legs of the relay degenerated into confrontations of the relay by said protesters and many legs of the relay were shortened and otherwise altered (see the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics_torch_relay Wikipedia article for more details]]. Note that most other torch relay articles are mainly just about the paths they took.). This more or less killed any chances of there being another international torch relay.
237* ''Midnight Rider'', an infamously TroubledProduction, met this fate due to [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/midnight-rider-accident-sarah-jones-death-gregg-allman-685976 the on-set death of camera assistant Sarah Jones by train]]. [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/04/25/gregg-allman-letter-midnight-rider/ For the rest of his life, Gregg Allman didn't want to share his story with moviegoers anymore due to the incident]], which was labelled an act of criminal negligence on the part of the filmmakers.
238* Any chance for a wide release of ''The Interview'' ended up becoming a casualty of the Massive Sony Hack of '14, perpetrated by the terrorist organization Guardians of Peace (which has been alleged to have ties with the film's target, the DPRK, but is more likely to have been merely a disgruntled former employee looking for revenge).
239* Moderators on the Steam forums can no longer edit anyone's posts due to one too many game developers and abusive moderators altering peoples' posts to silence criticism against them or the games. While more level headed moderators would edit posts so that they don't have to delete the post or lock the thread outright, now they have to delete posts/threads or lock threads with no middle ground.
240* Enrico Caruso got one after his death in 1921. Initially his body was displayed in a glass case in the Cimitero di Santa Maria del Pianto[[note]]Cemetery of St. Mary of Tears[[/note]] in Naples. Most visitors were very respectful. However, the cemetery has no bathrooms. In 1929, his widow Dorothy ordered the tomb sealed.
241* The guitar makers of C.F. Martin & Co. gave an authentic 1870s guitar to be used in ''Film/TheHatefulEight''. But upon learning that the ''real'' guitar was destroyed during filming rather than one of the doubles, [[http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2016/02/hateful_eight_scene_destroys_r.html#incart_2box_lvl-homepage-featured they decided to stop lending their guitars to film productions]].
242* There used to be a longstanding policy among continental European hotels and lodgings to not rent to English football fans due to (justified) fears of hooliganism.
243* In September 2016, the Alphabet-funded linknyc Internet kiosks set up in public Manhattan sidewalks and other popular metro areas in the state were stripped of their internet browser capabilities when too many pedestrians used it for porn.
244* The insurance company Esurance abruptly discontinued their highly popular "Advertising/ErinEsurance" series of ads in 2010, in part because [[https://priceonomics.com/how-esurance-lost-its-mascot-to-the-internet/ people on the internet wouldn't stop making]] [[RuleThirtyFour porn of the character]].
245* After the 2015 [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL]] Draft, where teams openly ''tried'' to lose games to get a better shot at hyped prospects Connor [=McDavid=] and Jack Eichel,[[labelnote:Background]]Normally, a given NHL draft will have at most one player viewed as a "can't-miss" superstar. The 2015 draft was rare in having two such players. So far, [=McDavid=] has had the edge over Eichel, though the latter has done very well in the league.[[/labelnote]] the league changed the rules of the lottery to involve three separate lotteries for the top three picks. Two years later, the last-place Colorado Avalanche, who amassed 48 points without even ''trying'' to tank, were screwed over by the process when they dropped to the fourth pick, infuriating fans of the team.
246* Go to the Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease section [[Website/TVTropes on This Very Wiki]] and you will see a lot of examples of why we can't have nice real life examples, especially because of some people just couldn't resist FlameBait. Locked pages often also qualify.
247* According to ''Shattered'', a book about the 2016 campaign of UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton, the phrase "''We're not allowed to have nice things''" became a "dark mantra" of the campaign as it was continually buffeted by stuff such as the FBI announcements about e-mail investigations, the Wikileaks dumps, etc.
248* Ultra Music Festival, a music festival for ElectronicMusic, implemented an adults-only policy for 2015 onwards after two incidents occurred at the Miami venue in 2014. There was a 21-year-old who died of a drug overdose, as well as a security guard getting critically injured after a mob broke a gate and trampled her which resulted in dozens of arrests.
249* Depending on your definition of what a "nice thing" entails, the U.S. State Department has decided to ban all Americans from [[BileFascination travelling as tourists]] to UsefulNotes/NorthKorea following the death of [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/06/19/otto-warmbier-dies-days-after-release-from-north-korean-detainment/ Otto Warmbier in June of 2017.]] Warmbier had been travelling with a tourist group when he allegedly decided to take down a propaganda poster in his hotel room, [[FelonyMisdemeanor a crime that earned him a 15-year hard labor sentence in early 2016]] [[JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife and ultimately cost him his life.]]
250* A crisps company in the UK held a promotion where they invited people to upload selfies to be used in a humorous fashion by a sports newscaster and the winner would score some sporting event tickets. Predictably, the internet sent in photos of terrorists, dictators, pedophiles, and other criminals. The company ended the contest.
251* For more than a century, the American outdoor retailer [=L.L.Bean=], founded in 1912, offered a lifetime guarantee on all products it sold—offering refunds even without a purchase receipt. However, in the mid-2010s, certain customers began abusing the policy, returning products bought from third parties (such as yard sales) or effectively turning the policy into a lifetime replacement program. The company announced in February 2018 that returns would only be accepted from one year after purchase, and that proof of purchase would be required for any returns.
252* Website/{{Tumblr}} was no stranger to pornography, but the site did very little about it since for the most part, there was no harm to it. Thanks to the people who used Tumblr to upload child pornography and related material, Google and Apple banned the Tumblr app from their storefront and in the end of 2018, Tumblr prohibited pornography of all kinds.
253* Usenet was once accessible through any computer and you could set your email client to subscribe to and download your favorite newsgroups. It was an extremely useful service for uncensored discussions of all kinds for free. Ripped-off binaries, child pornography, pirated material and other illegally encoded stuff caused most internet providers to stop Usenet service. Google bought Usenet and it is now called Google Groups, a mere shadow of its former vibrant self. Other services allow you to access Usenet via paid subscription.
254* After it came to light that a lot of the anonymous user-submitted content on Pornhub featured pedophilia and human trafficking victims, there was basically no way to sort it out and they nuked everything but verified accounts.
255* Before the 1980s, in France, [[UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts lawyers]] used to be able to visit their clients in prison without being searched by the warden. After an escaping inmate shot a guard with a gun that had been handed to him by his lawyer Brigitte Hemmerlin, all lawyers were to be searched before entering.
256* Said word for word at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1OhVgza34 the 4:35 mark of this video.]] The video talks about how in [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland's, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge]], restaurants had to stop giving out individual menus to diners, instead giving a party one menu to look at, switched from a stainless steel spork (with a ''Franchise/StarWars'' aesthetic) to regular plastic cutlery, and may even implement extra security as a way to help stop [[BlackMarket park goers from stealing these items and selling them over the internet.]]
257* A local New York City newspaper disabled comments on their articles posted on their website. The staff said that it was costing them money to have moderators and algorithms deleting offending comments over and over (with no results) from [[InternetJerk people being nasty towards each other and the people in the articles]]. Said people even harassed and threatened people that were victims of crime and even those who were still in high school. The harassment caused people that had information for a news story to not come forward because they didn't want to deal with people looking up their names and location and harassing them.
258* The National Emergency Library [[https://blog.archive.org/2020/06/10/temporary-national-emergency-library-to-close-2-weeks-early-returning-to-traditional-controlled-digital-lending/ fell victim to this]]. The Internet Archive, which managed the library, decided to close it two weeks early because of a [[ScrewedByTheLawyers concerted attack by a quartet of commercial publishers]].
259* In 2016, Hooters [[http://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/police-fire/hooters-to-close-rockville-pike-location-in-wake-of-officers-death had no choice but to close their branch in Rockville, Maryland]] and surrender their liquor license after a customer named Luis Gustavo Reluzco drove away after drinking heavily there, then struck and killed a police officer. The incident was blamed on one of the Hooter Girls, who continued to serve him while he was drunk.
260* In 2011, a man named [[https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-prisons-end-special-last-meals-for-inmates-after-ridiculous-request Lawrence Russell Brewer]] was executed. Before he was executed, he was allowed to request a last meal, and he requested two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, three fajitas, a meat lover's pizza, a pint of ice cream, and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts. The problem was, he didn't eat ''any'' of it. As a result, Texas did away with bespoke last meal requests for its death row inmates.
261* According to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKOtPR0DZdU this video]], back in Sweden in [[TheSixties the 1960s]] this person's grandfather bought a monkey from a sailor that came into his shop one day. After being locked up in its cage for several months, the monkey attacked and severely wounded its owner when it was finally let out, and the police were called in to deal with the situation, but after they couldn't capture it, they shot and killed it. A few months after the incident, no charges were filed as he had committed no real crimes, so the Swedish government created new laws that banned any animal that could be classified as an exotic pet within its national borders.
262* The downside of quality children's programming such as ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is this, particularly ones who have a real adult fanbase. Predators would see the program and decide to use it as an excuse to connect to the little kids the show was originally aimed at. Not at all helped whenever a brony or adult fan of another show actually is outed as a groomer. Many potential watchers have been turned off of MLP, a legitimately good, well-written show, because if the groomer problem in its fanbase.
263* This is why TP-Link routers sold in the USA are firmware-locked. Some killjoys have been using custom firmware to boost the Wi-Fi signal strength on their router so their signal is strong enough to be picked up where ever they are on the block, at the price of drowning out and thus effectively jamming some of the neighbors' Wi-Fi signals, and in extreme fringe cases even disrupts the radar systems of airplanes. This resulted in a threatening letter by the FCC, and thus TP-Link has decided to region-lock their routers, and the US version of the routers will be locked down extra tightly that third-party firmware will be forbidden to run on the routers.
264* Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} barred Creator/TomKenny from voicing ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' in works produced without their approval or oversight after he [[ParodyAssistance voiced the character in a]] ''Series/TVFunhouse'' X-Presidents skit in which he's hired by the titular group of former U.S. presidents to appear in a pro-[[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror War on Terror]] propaganda video.
265* Signs that unintentionally say something funny will be frequent targets of theft by the amused, to the chagrin of the unamused authorities who have to keep paying for replacements until the sign itself is changed.
266** At one point, Interstate 40 had special milage signs at both ends of the interstate in Barstow, California and Wilmington, North Carolina showing the distance (of 2,554 miles) to the opposite terminus. While Barstow, as of 2023, still continues to have a milage sign showing the distance to Wilmington posted despite repeated theft, the [=NCDoT=] [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120307144525/http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20091112/ARTICLES/911129963/1004?Title=I-40-Barstow-Calif-sign-gone-for-good officially gave up]] on posting a milage sign in Wilmington showing the distance to Barstow in 2009 after the fifth time it was stolen.
267** The village of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugging,_Upper_Austria Fucking, Austria]] changed their name to Fugging on January 1, 2021, mainly because they were sick of constantly replacing the signs that marked the borders of the village (which were simply white signs with "Fucking" in black script) at €300 a pop.
268** Downplayed example with Shitterton in the southwest of England -- they still have a road sign on the road to enter the hamlet, but it's carved onto a 1.5-ton rock to make it too difficult to steal without construction equipment.
269* Road signs with memetic numbers on them also get stolen a lot, to the point where the governing authority will change the number and break their own numbering system to put an end to it.
270** [[LOL69 "69"]] is a frequent victim because it is relatively low and therefore more likely to occur in any highway system. Several state highways formerly numbered 69 have been renamed to others, such as what is now New Jersey Route 31. For mile markers, many have been changed to read "Mile 68.99".
271** [[FourTwentyBlazeIt "420"]] is another mile marker that's often changed to officially say "419.9".
272** [[NumberOfTheBeast "666"]] isn't common for mile markers in the US as few highways are that long (highway mileage numbers reset to 0 at state borders), but one of the few places that this does happen is Interstate 10 in Texas [[EverythingIsBigInTexas due to its sheer size]] -- they mark Mile 666 with a generic yellow-and-black-stripe "hazard" marker while Miles 665 and 667 are marked normally. For numbering the highways themselves, US Highway 666[[note]]It was originally a spur route off of the famous and now-decommissioned Route 66[[/note]], nicknamed the "Devil's Highway", kept having its signs stolen and the highway itself had a high vehicle fatality rate because of it, leading New Mexico and later Arizona to get it changed to US Highway 491 in 2003.
273* When it comes to special ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' cards being given away or sold at certain stores, it takes just a few bad apples to ruin it for everyone:
274** In 2022, [=McDonald's=] gave away Pokémon cards with their Happy Meals. What should have been a fun extra for children to have with their meals turned into swarms of adults buying a ton of Happy Meals just to get the cards to sell online while throwing the food away. This caused many [=McDonald's=] restaurants to be devoid of the Pokémon cards, leaving none for kids to collect. [=McDonald's=] would eventually place limits to discourage adults from snagging up all the cards.
275** A Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam held a collaborative event with the Pokémon Company by selling a Pokémon card displaying a Pikachu wearing a felt hat whose art style was made after Van Gogh's. A bunch of scalpers swarmed the gift shop and bought out all the cards to resell online at highly inflated values. Due to how aggressive the scalpers were, the museum decided to stop selling the cards entirely.
276* In August 2012, Mountain Dew held an online contest to let the Internet name a new green apple flavour of Mountain Dew. However, 4chan quickly raided the contest to elevate offensive names to the top (with "Hitler did nothing wrong" taking the top spot) and also hacked the contest page to add offensive banners and pop-ups, forcing Mountain Dew to end the contest.
277* Hitchiking used to be a quite a popular method of travel. People would regularly give rides to strangers. However, due to increasing reports of serial killers targeting hitchhikers ( [[HostileHitchhiker as well as predatory hitchikers assaulting/killing people gave them rides ]] ), Hitchiking fell out of favor as a method of transport in America after the 70s. People stopped giving rides to hitchhikers. Nowadays you are hard pressed to find a stranger willing to give you a ride if you get stranded.
278* Public restrooms are a frequent target of vandalism and other shenanigans like clogging the plumbing. Because it can get expensive to clean and repair a bathroom over and over, several outcomes can occur:
279** The bathroom is temporarily closed for cleaning and/or repairs. No one can use it until the work is done.
280** The owners make it harder for the public to use the bathroom such as installing locks on the doors requiring a code or key.
281** In some extreme cases, the bathrooms are hardly or never bothered with the upkeep to save on costs, causing the bathrooms to fall into a state of disrepair.
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