DMV on The Hottest Day of the Year

The forecast this morning was for this to be the hottest day in our area in the last three years. With that in mind Carter and I decided to go someplace that would have air conditioning and what better place than a State of North Carolina agency. Specifically we chose to spend the better part of our day at the DMV so Carter could get her “After 9” drivers license. For those of you with no idea what that is, it is the next step up drivers license that allows a person who has been driving for the last six months to drive after nine at night without a parent in the car.

The actual process of getting the license is a five minute meeting with a DMV official where you turn in a driving log that proves you have driven at least 12 hours in the last six months and have not gotten any moving violations. Proof is too strong a word, really you just write down that you did it and they take your word for it, no video is required.

When Carter and I enter our closet DMV we were met with a perfect cross section of our area, all 65 of them ahead of us, filling every available seat and leaning space against the wall. Miraculously there was no one else in line to get a number so as we approached the fine state employee I asked him how long the wait was, he looked at Carter’s paperwork and license and declared in a strong voice, “35 minutes.” Seemed suspicious, but we took our number and wiggled our way into one last leaning spot.

The numbering system is done in a way that you have no idea how far you are from being helped next. All numbers start with a letter between C and H followed by a three-digit number. Carter’s number was D566. We soon heard D451 called, but that was followed by C387.

When H251 was called an octogenarian vacated one of the valuable chairs and since I was the next oldest woman waiting the young men around me let me take the seat. This was nice since it helped my needlepointing tremendously to be able to sit.

The DMV is the great equality space. There are no fast passes, global entry or first class lines. There is no way to buy yourself to the front of the line. The state could really increase revenue if they considered such a system. I counted at least five other customers who might have paid triple at a minimum to have their transaction go faster.

Soon the 35 minutes had passed and only three other “D” tickets had been called. Estimation is obviously not on the civil service exam. We waited patiently. At one point the call to prayer was played on one man’s phone and he had to leave the building to roll out a rug and pray. In democratic turns he lost his place in line if his number was called while he was out of the building.

The one thing that really made me crazy is that when someone else’s number was called they all seemed in no hurry to get up and hustle over to their appointed desk. For gosh sakes people, move it. After an hour and forty-five minutes D566 was called. The woman who waited on Carter could not have been nicer, but the fact that the whole transaction including getting her new photo taken took less than five minutes was very frustrating. “They don’t have enough employees do they?” Carter asked as we left the building. You think?