Thursday, April 15, 2010

Standing In Line At The DMV

We made a quick trip down to the DMV to pick up some paperwork for Cindy’s Dad yesterday, OK I can hear you now pointing out the oxymoron with me using quick and DMV in the same sentence, I’ll give you that one and admit that you are right because yes we were in line a whole lot longer than we were actually inside the building, and quick had nothing to do with the whole process other than our departure.

We pulled into the parking lot a little after 9AM and the line leading to the door ended at the corner of the building, the corner opposite the corner that you go around to get to the door that is, it didn’t take me long to realize that we were going to be here a while, Cindy likes people watching so we began our typical people watching routine, which helps us get through these little escapades Cindy and I usually end up going through together, standing in line with us were people from youngsters who knew it all and were explaining loudly to their parents how it wasn’t fair that they had to stand in line to get a drivers license to the elderly who I wondered bless their hearts why they were standing in line to get a drivers license anyway, and going back to the youngsters I still wonder why they were not in school, I figure they probably got a little time off for good behavior which I really don’t think was the case judging by their manners.

We got to the corner of the building and made the turn to where we could finally see the door at about 10:45AM, a man walked up and approached the gentleman behind me searching for to the best of my Spanish speaking abilities someone who spoke Spanish, he stated something similar to “you hablas espanol?” and “no habla english”, they engaged in a short conversation which went quickly and ended with him going to the next person in line to which he then all of a sudden spoke perfect English, he was asking for gas money and according to his sad story he had just ran out of gas down the street and needed a little cash so he could put a some fuel in his tank, he staggered his way down the line and along with the odor of alcohol combined with the gestures made by people he had just spoken with of taking imaginary drinks did not help his cause to gain cash from any of the people he asked, I was actually impressed at how quickly he learned English and how fast the lingo changed depending on who he was speaking with, I kind of felt bad for the guy but really have a hard time believing what type of fuel he was actually after.

Finally we made it to the door and waited our turn to be called in, I had been visiting with the gentleman behind me the whole time, we had discussed everything from the car dealer who got there way after we did and somehow got into the building and walked away with his business done while we were still standing in line, the troubles this dealers company is going through, to the current amount of earthquakes that are hitting right now, he had an appointment and was told that even though having one he still had to stand in line to get to the start line, we discussed how this just didn’t make sense, we were only there to pick up paperwork that needed to be filled out by Cindy’s Dad for his license renewal and we had to stand in line to pick this up also, so standing in line didn’t sound too far fetched, Cindy’s Dad has an appointment for another day we were just there to save him standing in line for the paperwork part. The DMV worker came to the door to summon two people in, one would be the man in front of us and the other would be Cindy and I since we were together, she says No only one can come in since I only have one chair, Cindy says we don’t need a chair we are just here for paperwork, she then had the nerve to say, “Well why are you standing in line” OK I took a deep breath as we had just stood in line for this paperwork for well over an hour and a half, Cindy tells her which form we need and she asks why, Cindy explains and you know what she had the nerve to say then, “Well he doesn’t need to fill out that form the letter he got in the mail replaces it” Cindy then asks “What time does he need to get here to wait in line for his appointment” you know what she now had the nerve to say, “five minutes before his appointment time and he just needs to bypass the line and sign in”

Cindy had made calls to the DMV before we went and was told that the paperwork was required and standing in line at the DMV was the only way to get it, also when the appointment was made she was told that even though having an appointment gives you a set time it doesn’t get you out of standing in line. I took another deep breath and we made our way out the door, we had only been inside about five minutes and now we are walking right by all the folks we had shared the last couple hours with, I did not have the heart to tell the gentleman I had been talking to that he had gotten some bad information about standing in line at the DMV.

18 comments:

  1. I am soooo frustrated for you. I have had similar experiences waiting forever to be told I didn't even have to get in line in the first place! We are just using our manners! Glad things are taken care of now or at least the waiting is over...sorry, I couldn't resist the pun!

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  2. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
    Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

    Those are the sounds I'm making while reading this post because I too have gone through similar experinces with the DMV. This must be something they screw up everywhere in the states because so many people complain about the same thing.

    And I had to laugh at this...

    "I was actually impressed at how quickly he learned English and how fast the lingo changed depending on who he was speaking with."

    Yeah, I know what you mean, buddy. TOTALLY!

    Hope you're enjoying a super day!

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  3. Hey SC,

    LOL yes Mam at least the waiting is over for now, the bad thing is there was no reason to be there in the first place, but at least now we know----until next time huh :^)

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  4. Hey Ron,

    Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

    Yes Sir a whole lot of frustration could have been avoided with a couple of signs or an employee coming out to say "Line up here for paperwork or appointments"

    I guess that would be too easy though :^{

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  5. Just reading this got my blood pressure up!

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  6. Why are all DMV's the same? Is it some special "how to make people wait and then totally piss them off" seminar they attend??

    I really hate going to the DMV and am way thankful the kids all have their driver's licenses and I'm done with that bit!

    ♥Spot

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  7. Hey Ms A,

    Wasn't supposed to get your blood pressure up, but it does happen at the DMV huh

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  8. Spot,

    "how to make people wait and then totally piss them off seminar"

    I think you just may have found the answer :^)

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  9. I used to hate going to the DMV also. No, I didn't hate it, I despised it..Then somebody gave me a few tips. Several years later, I can attest that they are all true!

    1. almost 25% of business done at the DMV can be done at autoclub (if you are a member).
    2. If you make an appointment, you are in and out in a hurry.
    3. If you don't have an appointement. NEVER go in the morning. Go about 30 minutes before they close. There's very few people there, because everybody goes in the morning. And the people who work there are in a hurry!
    4. Go to the DMV website (in california at least) and they have a real time indicator that tells you how many people are there, and how long the wait will be.

    this has been a free public servie announcement...

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  10. Hey Pat,

    Thank you I am going to remember these, I am a member of the autoclub and it is amazing how much you can get done there, I did not know about the real time indicator that is something I will look at and going at closing just makes sense when you put it that way.

    Your public service announcements are always welcome my friend.

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  11. Well I think it is a requirement that when you go to government agencies such as the DMV you must either take valium or do what the man looking for "gas" money did..take a shot. This is the only way to insulate yourself against certain frustration, anger and high blood pressure!!! I guess that is why everyones driver's license pictures are usually so bad. We are all scowling from being pissed off!!!!!!

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  12. Susie,

    You make an excellent point, I could never figure why everyones drivers license picture always come out the way they do, after the frustration that is the DMV I now wonder why they come out so good Ha Ha

    You gotta love government agencies!!!

    Thank You my Friend

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  13. Hey Jimmy, I was just talking to my mom today that she and my dad went to get his license renewed and evidently had to get a new picture. My dad will be 80 next week and the lady taking the pictures told him he was too tall and made him "squat" while she took his picture. I kid you not! Can't they adjust the camera height? My dad is only 6'1".... What would she have done if my husband had gone? He's almost 6'8"... Would she have made him sit on the floor?

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  14. OMG that is so the scene at DMV. I try never to go. My husband usually goes or I go to there website to do it on line!
    Yesterday when I was at the grocery store I was also approached by a gentlemen who had a sob story abour needing gas money too!

    Cindy

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  15. Wow Peg,

    That was so not right, I know the cameras have adjustments I suppose that they just have to be smarter than the equipment, if it had been your husband they would have probably made a hole in the floor for him to stand in rather than adjusting the camera.

    It really burns me up what they did to your Dad>

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  16. Hey Cindy,

    I do feel bad for those who are in need and I would more than likely help those who come up and say I am out of work and need a few groceries, do you know where I may be able to find a little work. When there is an odor of alcohol coming off of them I wonder where their priorities actually are.

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  17. Typical government managed bureaucracy. Drives me nuts. You would think that with all our taxes they could at least be civil and "GET THE DAMN LINES MOVING!" heh.

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  18. Yes Sir,

    Getting the lines moving would be a blessing, in California they are closed three Fridays a month to save money which in turn has only made the lines longer in my opinion.

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