It is a universal truth that when you go to the DMV, you will have a negative experience. I just didn't realize that I was in for an absolute doozie...
With infants, the best time to do anything is after their nap when they are usually sweet, happy, and ready to tackle the day. Knowing this, I scheduled my visit to the DMV for after Madelyn's nap. Unfortunately, Madelyn woke up crying after 25 minutes and wouldn't go back to sleep...a bad omen. I should have just accepted defeat and rescheduled my DMV visit; but I didn't.
I arrived at the DMV just after 10 am. The line was really long (it stretched out of the DMV by several feet) but I decided to wait it out. Several minutes later, I reached the front of the line and was given a number and told to wait. At the time, the current number was #36; my number was #88. I settled in for what I knew would be a long wait. After an hour of waiting, I realized that they had stopped calling numbers (the last number called was #62). I sensed some tension in the room and looked around to discover the cause: all of the DMV representatives (15+ people) were gone!
Five minutes, 10 minutes, 25 minutes passed...still no representatives! Dan asked the manager what the hold up was -- get ready for this one -- LUNCH! Are you kidding me?! What kind of manager schedules lunch for all of his employees at the same time?! especially at a DMV?! Their lunch break was not on any schedule that I saw. If this was a daily occurrence, you would think that the branch would be shut down for an hour instead of leaving every customer absolutely bewildered.
After another 15 minutes without representatives, the fire alarm went off (yes, the fire alarm)! The manager told us to hold on to our numbers and leave the building. Angry laughter came from every corner of the room. So, we filed out of the DMV and waited on the sidewalk for another 15 minutes.
When the alarm subsided, we were finally allowed back into the building. Then, while we were waiting, it went off again (I know, I know, most of you are probably asking yourselves why I didn't leave. That's a good question.) Five minutes after the second alarm subsided, we were allowed back into the DMV. But, they wanted to give everyone new numbers! Are you kidding?
The "powers that be" assured the angry mob that the numbers would be given in the same order that they were given out originally. That calmed us. We traded in our old numbers for the new numbers and settled down to wait - again. Soon we realized that the numbers were not given out in the original order. Instead of having only 20 people ahead of me I had nearly 40! A woman that was originally behind me was now 11 people ahead of me! (Oh, and I forgot to mention that Maddy had begun crying and screaming around the time of the second fire alarm).
This story does end on a happy note... I was able to get my drivers license... after nearly three hours!
7 comments:
How horrible! It never fails - if you need to do something in public, kids won't take a nap, they get sick, or some other disaster happens, making the waiting that much worse!
So sorry you had such a bad experience! I wonder why they didn't just start with the old numbers?
Weird.
that is absolutely ridiculous! I'm angry and I'm just reading about it!
Did you know in AZ if you have kids, they give you a number that goes fast. You know how there are like 4 different numbers. One of them is for disabled and parents! crazy huh? I was out of there in like 20 minutes. I wonder if they have that line in MA?
That is a crazy story. Fire alarms? Lunch break? Never had that happen to me in a DMV.
I just renewed my driver's license this week: 90 minutes. Your story wins. (There were no lunch breaks or fire alarms to delay me--that's just the standard wait time at the "express" DMV in Manhattan.)
Hi Heidi! What a story. We haven't had great success at the DMV either - we went and waited three seperate times in NYC before they would give JT a license. We just got our new CT licenses, and it took me about 4 hours. Why is it that the DMV is always crazy like that?!
That is one of the most horrible stories I have ever heard about the DMV. In fact, I'll just say it is THE worst ever. I'm so so sorry!
ugh ... it only gets worse. yep i had to go to get my license changed again. going with 3 kids ... it only gets more fun! my plan ... is to never move again, never get a ticket, and never do anything that might make EVER go in there again.
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