Department of Motor Vehicles

DMV. Three little letters that strike dread in my heart. As I mentioned in one of my last posts, I lost my ID over the weekend. What annoys me most is that I was not having a good time when I lost it.

Today I looked up the closest DMV branch closest to my office and I made it there about 4pm. Now, all the experiences I have had at DMV offices have not been great. In Sonora, there are very few employees, or they all take their breaks at the same time when they see anyone approaching the doors, or they all hate their lives so much that they are determined to make those who visit miserable. I am not really sure the exact reason, but the outcome is always the same. I leave feeling like I have lost a part of my soul. I thought nothing could be worse than Tuolumne County DMV.

Then I went to St. Thomas. The STT DMV is significantly worse than Tuolumne County DMV, but for some reason I was amused instead of annoyed. The problem with the island's DMV, was that it had been flooded and simply closed for months. When they reopened, they only stayed open from 8am to noon. To have a chance of getting anything done, one would have to show up at 7, stand in line outside. Every once in a while the door would open, they would let about five people in and then close and lock the door again. Once inside you would find yourself in line again, this time to get a number. With number in hand you would take a seat and wait to be called. When I reached the front of the line after hours of waiting, I realized I did not have all the information. So I made it up. And I called it a success.

Arriving at the DMV in Torrance I was not sure what to expect. And I was pleasantly surprised. The line moved quickly. I was not annoyed like I would have been in Sonora, but neither was I amused like I was on STT. I paid my money, posed for a picture and was out the door in less than half an hour!

Just one more thing for which to be thankful.