Thursday, August 17, 2006

Fun at the DMV

I went to the DMV yesterday to renew my car tag.

When I got there, I was glad to see the line was not very long.
Only six people in front of me, oh good, I won't have to wait long.
WRONG!
I was in line for an hour. AN HOUR!
I could understand an hour if there had been a long line, but it was only SIX people in front of me.

There was one person working, everyone else was on break.
I was busy observing everyone~from the employees to the people standing in line.
The employees brought new meaning to the word "slow-motion".
Now we can all think of times that slow-motion is a good thing.
I can think of one in particular at this point! ;)
But, not in a customer service oriented job. It almost seemed as if they were mechanical in their movements and speech ..."Next in line, can I help you".

It would be a feat if you could make one of them smile. Although, the man that was being helped by the one employee that was not on break was certainly attaining that goal. He was telling his life story and laughing and complimenting the worker.
I was thinking to myself that this guy must be bored to carry on in such a leisurely way.
I could think of a million ways I would rather be spending my time.

The guy in front of me kept looking at his watch. I wanted to tell him that the time doesn't change so much every 30 seconds.
Thank goodness he was there to let me know the play by play of what each employee was doing.

Then there was the nice guy behind the lady that was behind me. Every so often, I would notice that he was looking at me.
I know what he was looking at....

I would smile and say something like "looks like we got here at the right time, look at the line behind us", he would then glance up to my face, smile~look behind us and respond "yeah, really".

After 15 minutes or so, a couple of other employees came back from break.
I know this because the guy in front of me announced it!

Two people got their chance at the counter/window. This left only 4 people in front of me.

Now, nice guy ~ (that looks at my b...) says, "what is that guy trying to do, pick her up or something?" because the man I told you about earlier, was still at the counter/window, continually talking.
This was annoying the guy in front of me, as he says "don't they realize there is a long line of people?"
I actually thought that was a brilliant statement....Wow, maybe our long line of people was invisible!

....waiting waiting waiting....Ok, it's me up next and I hear "Next in line, can I help you".
I walked up, said in a pleasant voice, "good morning, how are you today"?
She almost smiled and said she was fine. Well, I would settle for that because she was pleasant after that.
I already had my check made out, so it only took about 2 minutes.

When I left, I walked out past nice guy.
He smiled, I wished him luck in which he replied thanks with a chuckle.
Oh yeah, the man was still at the counter/window when I left.

Wow, an hour of waiting for a 2 minute transaction. I have to admit I did enjoy the performance by all of the people there and it was something different than my normal routine.
So, that is done and I don't have to go back for another few weeks ~ when I get my replacement title back from the state.

Have a good day everyone!
~xo

48 comments:

BKS said...

Luckily Texas allows us to mail ours in...I take advantage of that quite often.

jiggs said...

you should never suffer injustices like this!

Foto Man said...

I can only deduced that employees observe a speed limit at that DMV branch and it's SLOW !

truckdriver_sefl said...

Hey I am thinking how lucky we are that we got HNT from LeeAnn today!! Thanks for that random act of kindness sugar!!

Have a wonderful day!

Aliecat said...

Yeah, that's government workers for ya!

Carl Spackler said...

i hate DMV. i don't think i've ever been and not waited atleast an hour.

last time i went i think i was there for a good 2 1/2 hours.

AndyW said...

If you wore a shirt like that at the DMV I would stare also.
Yea baby!

Lee Ann said...

Bks ~ We can mail them in here too, but I never got a card in the mail! If I had, I could have even done it online. :(

Jiggs ~ Awww, thank you Jiggsy

Foto ~ Yes, that is true.

Lee Ann said...

Trucker ~ Haha...well, that is one of my old HNT pics...number 4! Thank you trucker.

Alie ~ You are so right!

Carl ~ I too have been there that long. I was amazed at how long I was there this time, with so few people!

Lee Ann said...

Andy ~ Haha! No, it wasn't a shirt like that. It was a round neck tee with a light weight jacket! :)

Cinderella said...

Boys will be boys!! When the day comes where they stop looking at me, then I will worry!! (Even thou sometimes it's creepy) just smile and think to yourself (Take a picture it lasts longer)

Words I live by!! =)

mojoala said...

I don't know how it is now, but you only had to get tags once every four years at a total cost of 40 dollars in the state of Lousiana.

Kelly said...

Yep, you just need to move to a state that allows you to do it by mail. :)

Bathroom Hippo said...


Wow!

Yah I know what he was looking at. Nothing else to do at the DMV.

An hour?! Fug that.

Lee Ann said...

Shan ~ Haha...I didn't say that I didn't like him looking...I just said I noticed he was looking! ;) *giggle*

Mojo ~ Hey! Wow, it has been a while since I have seen you. Glad you came by. Wow, that is interesting, it is more like the renewal of your driver's license.

Myutopia ~ Well, you can renew by mail here, but only if you receive a card in the mail (which you normally do, but I didn't for some reason). So, I had to go there!

Lee Ann said...

Hippo ~ ;)
Thank you!

Carl Spackler said...

i can't blame the guy for staring at your boobs.

they are lovely!

Lee Ann said...

Carl ~ Thank you cutie, thank you so much.

JLee said...

well if you wouldn't wear your bikini to the DMV Lee Ann! lol
At least you had fun people watching. I hate when people get all chitty chatty when there are about 50 people waiting in line behind them. ARG

JM said...

Well at least you are done with them for a little while.

coach said...

I'm sure that guy who keep looking at your b-- , don't mind the delay . I surely won't hurry up those DMV peeps !

Lee Ann said...

Jlee ~ I know, it really was amusing. I figured I had to be there, so make the best of it.

Angel ~ Yes, maybe I will have a more interesting story the next time I have to go.

Coach ~ Thank you Coach, so nice of you to say.

john said...

Lee Ann , I just cheched the DMV branch in your area . The man you said was 'storytelling a lie ' is still there. You will see him when you come back.
Apparently ,he's a military recruiter trying to convince the poor DMV employee to join the marine !

Polyman2 said...

Well the DMV "Dumb Motha Vuckers"
are only hired if they fail the appitude test.
Thx for HNT, I needed that.

Lee Ann said...

John ~ Wow, I knew he was up to something! Thanks for the insight.

Poly ~ haha...very good!
Oh, you like the rerun? ;) Thank you.

NWJR said...

I guess that disproves the adage that cleavage will get you whatever you want!

Maybe you should have flashed the guy that was taking his lunch break...

(just kiddin'. Good post.)

Lee Ann said...

nwjr ~ Hey! So nice of you to come over.
I never thought of that! hmmmm....
Thanks, come by more often.

Violet said...

the dmv always provides valuable inspiration for a good blog entry. good to see that your visit held up to the standard.

Lee Ann said...

Violet ~ Yes, something interesting does always seem to happen!

Becky said...

I always mail that in!

Neo said...

Lee Ann - Hmmmm, you should have flashed the guys in line in front of you, then while they were all passed out from the beautiful sight, you could have jumped in front of them in the line. ;) J/K

Hmmm, maybe that might have worked.

The DMV sucks, they have to speeds there. Slow, and Stop.

Peace & Hugs,

- Neo

Ellen said...

I got a lot luckier than you when I did my tags yesterday. Ten minutes in line, one minute for the tags, and I was on my way out the door. Yippee for DMV to have little tag stations all over the place here!

So sorry to hear you had to wait so long. I've done that trip too, and carry a book for just that reason.

Have a great weekend!

Hotboy said...

DMV? Department of Motor Vehicles? Car tag? Is this your insurance sticker for the front window? Got it all after the first sentence! An hour is too long! Hotboy

Jason said...

Awww crap! My tags are due too. Let's see, I can go to the courthouse and wait in line, well maybe not since I know the people there. Or I could go to randalls or krogers to do it. Or just mail it in. Well, with the way I procrastinate it will probably be option number 1.

I bet the guy behind you was glad he went that day.

FortuneCookie said...

Peace and hugs to you, Babygirl!

You are so beautiful ... Rasta can imagine the conversations the other "people watchers" that shared the line with you are having today, lol.

Here, at the beach, DMV has been contracted out to a private company that occupies government offices ... they are worse than the old government employees could ever have been. Consistently slow, rude, and just plain fucked up. Excuse my language!

Lee Ann said...

Becky ~ I do too, whenever I can.

Neo ~ Oh, that is so sweet Neo. Most of the employees behind the counter were women! haha

Hotboy ~ Yes, the license plate on the car had to be renewed. I was able to keep the same tag(plate), but I needed a new sticker to put on the corner of it. An hour was too long to wait for only six people in front of me.

Lee Ann said...

Jason ~ I remember the Randalls stores and I think there are some Krogers in some of the areas near. I wish we could take care of that stuff at the grocery store here.
I wish you could have gone with me, I might have had quicker response!
Thank you Jason ;)

Rasta ~ Thank you so much, you always so the nicest things. I know "nice guy" would be saying.."yesterday at the dmv, I was looking at this girls b**bs, but I was cool about it, she had no idea"! haha
Hope you don't have to deal with those contracted people very often! ;)

Otis said...

I hate it when crap like that goes on...it's almost enough to make one scream out, "Dude, WTF?"

jamwall said...

staring at gazongas is actually part of the drivers eye exam in alabama.

Lee Ann said...

Otis ~ I know, sometimes it is frustrating, I try to make the best of it.

Jams ~ Oh really, so that is why...

Metalchick said...

I hate the DMV! the DMV in my city has a new routine that is suppose to make it go faster, but it doesn't work! Here's how it goes: You wait in the start line, which is really long. Then you tell them what you are here for. Then they give you a number and then you go sit in a chair and you wait for your number to be called. I should also mention that it's not just a number on the stub, but it has a letter in front of the number which would look something like this: H36. So you sit in the chairs waiting for your letter and number to be called out over the speaker, or you can look up on the TV monitors for your number to be displayed. Finally your number gets called, then two minutes later, you're done!

You might want to try to make an appointment, some say that it goes a lot faster than that whole routine.

Lee Ann said...

Metalchick ~ Wow, that seems redundant...to wait in line for a number then wait again!
At least you can sit while waiting, I guess that would be the positive side.
Unfortunately, they don't take appointments here.

zomba said...

I say Lee Ann!

Many thoughts come to mind after reading your post.

"There was one person working, everyone else was on break." In Malawi, everyone goes on their luncheon break at the same time. This means that it is impossible to get anything done during that hour. However it also means that no-one *expects* to get anything done during the break.

"I know what he was looking at...." One can hardly blame him :-) Were you thus attired?

"I was thinking to myself that this guy must be bored to carry on in such a leisurely way." Or, possibly, that he was not as stressed as most of us are, nowadays. Perhaps he'd just had his first MGT of the day.

"I know this because the guy in front of me announced it!" When I was in Chicago, recently, I noticed that some people tended to voice a running commentary on life.

"Wow, an hour of waiting for a 2 minute transaction." I also noticed in Chicago how good Americans are, now, at queuing. Used to be the Brits who were the best at that. Now the Brits expect immediate attention.

I hope you don't mind that I made so many observations on your post.

MM III

Lee Ann said...

MMIII ~ I am glad you commented.
Well, the break thing...it was not yet lunch hour. It was most likely a 15 minute mid morning break, which I think are normally staggered. (Especially if there is a long line to be waited on).
As far as him looking...thank you. No, I was wearing a round neck tee with matching jacket and a pair of slacks. (covered up quite nicely). I wasn't disturbed it was just an observation I made. ;)
Actually, I did overhear part of the man's conversation. He was a retired fireman. I am sure at one time he was under loads of stress, but most likely he is a little less stressed now. I just find it humorous when people carry on as if they are the only person around.
I would say I am under so much less stress than most people. I prefer it that way :)
I actually found the guy in front of me quite amusing. He seemed a little anxious, thus the commentary.
Sadly, I have never been outside the US (except to Mexico once), but I would have to agree. We wait in lines for everything.
I found it to be an entertaining experience as I am a true observer of people and their actions. Was there other things I would rather be doing or other places that I would rather be? YES! But, I did try to make the best of it.
People are interesting.
Thanks for the observations and comments. Welcome here anytime.
Have a great weekend.

zomba said...

I say Lee Ann!

"I just find it humorous when people carry on as if they are the only person around" I pose that this is becoming a national trait, for Americans.

"I would say I am under so much less stress than most people. I prefer it that way :)"

I once conducted a stress class. Now, I must explain that stress amongst the inhabitants of Kalimbuka is mostly concerned with whether the maize crop will feed the family, or not. However, in the course of the class, it became apparent to me that absolutely anyone can suffer from stress. Stress caused by too much to do. Stress caused by not enough to do. Stress caused by work or children.

How wonderful that you are under less stress than many people.
As HotBoy would say "We are fortunate creatures".

"Sadly, I have never been outside the US (except to Mexico once)"

You *must* visit Kalimbuka! Mrs M would make you very welcome.

"...I am a true observer of people and their actions."

This is, very fortunately, obvious from your blog.

"People are interesting."

Absolutely!

Terimah kasih (to quote another continent)

MM III

Lee Ann said...

MMIII ~ Yes, you are right. I do believe a lot of people feel they are the only one. Sad, I think!

I feel sure I am under much less stress than others because I see how they respond to the same situation that we both are in at the same time. So, I am a fortunate creature.

How sweet of you to offer. How fabulous would that be, a visit to Kalimbuka. I really wish I could. It would be so incredible to meet you and your wife.

Yes, people are very interesting and so much fun to watch, observe and analyze.

Thank you for this conversation, I have enjoyed it.

Fame said...

This is why I renew online! Praise the lord, DMV or any state employees are always slow, atleast that is what I have found. Sorry about your hour, but it made a great post!

Lee Ann said...

Fame ~ Yes, you are right. If I had received the little card in the mail, I could have mailed it in....but for some reason, I never got it. :(