As amazing as it may be, the renovations on the MBTA’s Orange and Green Lines have actually been completed on time as promised. How often can almost any major construction project boast such a success, especially a government job?

Of course, the heat might have been put under their bottoms by the public outcry from those who were highly inconvenienced by the temporary shutdown. Any overrun in the timeline would probably have sparked an uprising.

Say what you will, they at least provided bus shuttle service and got most of us where we were going one way or the other. Not ideal perhaps, but it looks like they did the best they could do.

When you think about it, a light rail system in and around a major city is a massively complicated thing to manage and maintain. Already, just a couple of days after resuming service, one Orange Line train was shut down due to some problem with a door. One tiny piece of the puzzle causing a major muddle. That’s how it goes, though. The more complicated any system is, the more apt it is to give way to its vulnerabilities.

But that’s another reason to take stock in what this system delivers to its patrons day in, day out, with relatively few breakdowns, when you look at the big picture.

Of course, we all wish for perfection, however realistic or unrealistic that may be. When things run smoothly we tend to take them for granted. When things go wrong it’s easy to howl like monkeys in protest, point fingers and look for blame.

Might as well blame the system – for being so darn complicated.