DMV Drama

Because I recently moved, I had the pleasure of going to the DMV (twice!) yesterday. Oy! Dealing with most government organizations, federal, state, and/or local, can often be frustrating and my experiences yesterday weren't exactly cakewalks. The office opened at 7:30 am (or so I thought), so I was there at 7:30. The office must have opened earlier because there was already a line inside at 7:30. Okay. Fine. I brought the requested documents to change my address, but I hadn't brought my car registration to get my address changed for that (because my sister drove and my registration was in my own car). Whatever. I figured I'd do my car registration address change online later. So after being bumped from one desk to another, I finally got to the desk where my new address was noted for my driver's license. Everything was fine, the clerk was friendly, no problem. Then the clerk made a mistake in the name of my new street address, so she had to to everything over. This is when her previously friendly demeanor turned ugly. She snapped at me and I fought the urge to tell her, "Don't take your mistake out on me, lady!" I understand working with the public is a hard and often thankless job, but it's the job these people chose. If they don't like it, they can try to find employment elsewhere. Anyway, after that drama, I went to yet another counter to get my new license. (They used the same picture from my previous license, so no photo-taking was necessary.) On the way home, I realized a flaw in my picture. There was a white spot on my forehead, like a photo flash. I didn't notice this at the office because I was too busy checking to make sure my address, birth date, etc. were correct. Since the picture hadn't changed, I really didn't pay much attention to it. The spot on my photo bothered me, so I went back to the DMV (this time with my car registration to get that changed). Thankfully, during my second visit, I didn't have to take a number. I just went to one line to get my registration updated and then I spoke with a supervisor who quickly got my photo corrected and my new flash-free driver's license was issued. All in all, I spent about three hours between my two trips to the DMV.

If the DMV offices around here had more locations with Saturday hours, maybe they wouldn't be so bombarded with people. A lot of people (myself included) can't get to the DMV during the work week, so Saturday is really the only day we can go and take care of business without having to take a day or half day off from work. But does the State of Illinois care about that? Apparently not. Hell, they can't even pass a budget here!