And so, at 8:00 in the morning, I drove to the DMV (about 15 minutes away) armed with my social security card, my (still valid) Alabama driver's license, my marriage certificate, my college transcript, and the insurance and registration for my car. I waited in line for about 20 minutes so that I could take a number and sit down. When I got to the front of the line, a lady hands me a form and asks me, "Where's your birth certificate?"
I feel like I looked at her blankly for almost 5 minutes. She asked so matter-of-factly, like it was something EVERYONE knew to bring with them to switch your license from one state to the next. I wish I had asked her where HER birth certificate was. I haven't a clue where mine is. So I told her that I didn't have it. She asked me for my passport. This was yet another thing I didn't think of bringing with me, especially considering I had my SOCIAL SECURITY CARD and DRIVER'S LICENSE. She looks at me, hands full of various papers detailing who I am, and says, as if I am not-so-bright: "Well, we need identification."
Duh. Stupid me. I went all the way to the DMV, and the only identification I brought with me was a driver's license, a social security card, a marriage license, a college transcript, a handful of credit cards, my library card, and my Red Cross Blood Type card. Silly me. I should have known they wanted identification.
And, by the way, this information is posted NOWHERE in the room where you have to wait in line to get a number so you can wait in line 2 more times.
I drove home, got my friggin' passport, and drove back to the DMV. I took a number (61) and felt somewhat encouraged, as the screen said, "Now serving 53." I figured my turn would be coming up reasonably soon. Apparently, the DMV is the place where I become the stupidest person on the planet.
Two hours later...the lady takes my picture (while talking on her cell phone), hands me a piece of paper to sign, and waves me away with the bleakest, most monotone "Have a nice day" you can possibly imagine. I'll get my license in 2 weeks.
*The phrase "great joy" here means, "harrowing, mind-numbing, and all-around ghastly task"
3 comments:
When we moved to Louisiana, I had a similar experience. I took off work, got there at the butt crack of dawn so I was early in line, waited, filled out paperwork, waited some more, went from window to window doing different tasks, etc. After a long and arduous process, I looked at my new license and realized that they had put in my birthday incorrectly (3 days off). When I pointed this out to the lady, I was told that I would have to start over again in line and do the whole process again, only this time I would have maybe 60 people in line before me where before I had maybe 5 people before me. Needless to say, my birthday remained June 19th rather than the 16th the entire time we lived in LA.
I had a similar problem in Florida. I went armed with social security card, Alabama driver's license, and birth certificate. The name on my social security card and Alabama driver's license didn't match (Gloria Jean Waggoner Smith vs Jean W. Smith). I had to get a new social security card because I never officially changed my name from Gloria to Jean. They are both my name. I don't get it. So now my driver's license and my signature are different, and that is acceptable.
I went through a similar ordeal in Massachusetts. I went to the DMV very soon after moving because MA doesn't trust Alabama's ability to notice the date when a person is born, so I couldn't purchase libations. No matter that I am 27 years old. Yet, they make you surrender your Alabama license and give you a crummy piece of paper that no one accepts as identification. So, what is the first thing I want after such a harrowing time at the DMV (cleverly called RMV in MA)? You got it. The one thing I can't get without a MA license.
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