The downtown shooting that, according to police reports, began at the mecca of downtown activity, The Padre Hotel, weaved its lethal path through some of the most populated streets and alleys in Bakersfield was a by product of late night activity. As most of our parents warned us, ‘Nothing good happens after midnight.”. But we are a growing community, investing in progress and therefore must accept when you saturate an area with bars, saloons, tattoo parlors and restaurants where cocktails are served every now and again some fool will show his or her derriere and things will be spoiled for the masses. Thankfully, while we do embrace the future, we remain a sleepy little town situated at least 90 minutes from the hustle and bustle that creates shootings on the streets as if it were more than a century ago. On that score, I suppose it’s fair to call us a town behind the times and we are rightfully taken aback when an idiot opens fire on police and the officers are forced to end the short gun play posthaste. While some will call for shutting the downtown area down at midnight (or earlier) and reel in the sidewalks as if this were Mayberry RFD, we should continue to forge ahead into the reality of the 21st Century and just thank our lucky starts that OUR police force could LITERALLY run to any shenanigans erupting off downtown. While tiny little communities much smaller than ours deal with such activity on a weekly basis this kind of thing is foreign to Bakersfield. Let’s not push the panic button just yet. Downtown, my home, remains a safe place for a good meal, a good time and that’s why we say good riddance to the morons who bring guns, mayhem and lethal violence to our lives.
