"Educated, Safe, and Legal"

The army of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers at the DMV today very nearly outnumbered the grownups. And that's saying a lot. 

I felt for them.

I am trying to remember what I did with the kids while visiting that confusing+overwhelming+bewildering place long ago. It seems almost certain that there was some kind of merciful spot for them to be, NOT in a long line; NOT confined to some chair with an unforgiving plastic seat; NOT, not..not.

But not everyone has the options. Sometimes you just have to go, and to take. But taking children there seems to be one of the small torments we humans are subjected to from time to time. On balance, the parents today were cordial to their offspring. No one shouted. No one spanked. Everyone just tried to survive the inevitable.

There is really no way you are going to survive it without patience. The people behind the counters can out-wait any frustrated person or stare them down or send them to some hideously long other line just to be rid of them. They have the power and so you might just as well get used to it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/oregondot/10728525246/

If I had to give any kind of advice about this, it would be to MAKE AN APPOINTMENT BEFORE YOU GO. The line for non-appointments was long and snaking. Round the building and out the back. The line for appointment-holders was short and sweet. We know because we were in both kinds of lines, today. The first one, the one to get our driving licenses for California, was the appointment one. The second one, the one to get our cars registered in California, was the non-appointment one (this was when I had time to observe the babies and toddlers). 


As one writer put it:

"The DMV claims to be an organization designed to keep drivers educated, safe, and legal much in the same way the Democratic People's Republic of Korea claims to be a republic made up of democratic people.

The DMV is basically a giant line where you pray you only have several hundred forms to fill out. You could easily find yourself in a hellish mire of red tape keeping you from registering your perfectly functioning car. What's your worst tale of woe related to the Department of Motor Vehicles?"

Hahahaha! THAT is exactly what it felt like today.  But I can't  really  point to any 'worst tale', based on today's experience. The clerks were nice, we had no children with us, and we had our iPhones which kept us nicely entertained. 

Oh wait - there was one seriously sad moment in our experience of today at the DMV. It was the moment we paid.

The DMV is, without a doubt, much richer than before we walked in.


See you along the way!
the SconeLady

https://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/362201147/

photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/oregondot/10728525246/">OregonDOT</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/362201147/">AMagill</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>