I went to the DMV... 'nuff said

I wasted 3 1/2 hours today at the DMV attempting to get my learner's permit renewed because it is 30 days before my birthday and 30 days before it is about to expire. Unfortunately, after waiting on line for 45 minutes, having to take take a written driver's exam, waiting on line again for another 30 minutes to wait for my test to be graded, waiting on line again for another hour and ten minutes, then taking an eye test, waiting another 45 minutes to show my ID and pay, I was told that I can't renew my license until it is 30 days before it is about to expire... but wait, it *IS* 30 days before it is about to expire, which is exactly what I said, but bureacracy was on a roll today and due to the way the evil DMV systems are programmed, they will only take a renewal 29 days before expiry---they THINK. No one knows for sure. It is all a big mystery down at the DMV. I could go back tomorrow and do all of this over again and the big government system may still reject my renewal.

And they all looked at me as if I was nuts--trying to renew 30 days before it expires. No one has ever tried to do THAT before. "Man alive--what are you trying to do to us, here?!? How do you expect us to know that the system doesn't accept renewals 30 days prior to expiration??? It's not like we've done this a million times... today!"

They said to come back next week, but being that it will take 4 to 6 weeks to send me my new ID card, this moronic system guarantees that I will be without a valid ID for at least a week and possibly up to three weeks. I mentioned this to the 'supervisor', but she just rolled her eyes and said, astonishingly, amazingly--"Well, you done should have come in sooner." Umm, well, ma'am, isn't that the PROBLEM???? HELLO???!?

Does the New York State DMV web site mention anything about this? Of course not! It didn't even mention that someone renewing a learner's permit needs to retake the written test, so I didn't know to study. Good thing that it is comprised of questions such as:

When you have been drinking socially, you should:

A) Drive fast so you will get home quickly and put fewer other drivers in danger.
B) Drive very slowly.
C) Take a cold shower before getting behind the wheel.
D) Ride home with a friend who has not been drinking.

However, even with these silly questions, the six people before me on line failed their exams. What is even scarier is that you can get up to 6 of the 20 questions on the test wrong and still pass the test. Someone who got the above question wrong could be on the road today. Yikes!

And to make matters worse, after the DMV fiasco, I had to walk back home to my apartment through the financial district and past the WTC site, which has been teeming with tourists since 9/11. I understand that people want to see "the big hole", but what I don't get is why these people stand there and look up. What are they looking up at?? The towers aren't there anymore!! And what is even more curious, is that they stand there in front of nothing, smile and take pictures of each other. I could see going to the site, bowing your head in silent prayer, or looking down in the hole to see how construction is progressing, but this gazing up into space thing really is strange. And it really is annoying because people are just walking along, stop short, and look up. Too bad for the crowd walking behind them. I wonder if they are hallucinating, or staring off into the sun....? I get the tourist thing of looking up at tall buildings--but this is a case where there is NO building.

But what really disgusts me is the street vendors that sell hats and t-shirts and calendars with pictures of the burning towers on them--and people buy them! For me, it really isn't a happy place and 9/11 wasn't a happy day. I really don't get why people would want a calendar with 12 pictures of horror to put up on their wall all year or a t-shirt with screaming people on it. I have never actually seen anyone wearing these things, but I see people buying them from these vendors. Ugh. I would immediately suspect anyone buying these things of being a terrorist--however I have seen groups of female tourists, obviously from middle America--in khaki elastic-waist shorts and Old navy logo t-shirts, fresh from their fake-Fendi sprees on Canal Street, snapping up these things like there was no tomorrow. I just don't get it.

After my frustrating DMV experience today, I felt especially pissed off at these tourists today, having to wade through the throngs on Church St, buying WTC commemorative key chains and taking pictures in front of nothing. I guess that I could have walked up Broadway, but it is equally as crowded and it is out of my way. And I am concerned about walking up West Street since pieces of the buildings under construction started falling off into the street and being flattened by a steel beam or a piece of scaffolding would have made today suck even more.

So I guess I have to do this all over again later in the week and hopefully the big evil government computer will let me renew my ID. If not, you might be reading about me on the front page of the NY Post--"Woman On Downtown Rampage After Assaulting DMV Clerk: Makes Tourist Eat T-Shirt"

Whew, now I feel better. Rant over.

I feel you, the DMV sucks. Spent a day there a few weeks back. Thank God I passed that test. I think If I ran for president one of my promises would be to 'Triple the number of DMV's within each major metropolitian area."

Well get used to it that's what you get whenever you have to deal with stupid government workers.

When you have to respond to the goverment in 20 days that means 20 days, when the government has to respond to you in 20 days that means a month.

You pay taxes on top of taxes usually about 3 times. Then you go to the park & they grass is not mowed, the toilets are dirty & in disrepair & they charge you $5 to park & you get a $47 ticket for parking more than 2 hours and a $20 additional fee for not paying it in 2 weeks.

[Edited on 1-11-2004 by outsider]

And just think that it's your tax dollar's being spent to pay these lazy government employee's...

That's what gets me... Just remind them of that next time you go in, and tell them their professionalism stinks and ask for their employee number, that always get em...

they don't think people would go that far, but's it's always fun to play bluff when you know they'll quickly change their tune...