If you read my last entry, you know that I recently misplaced my driver’s license and had to get a replacement. That is always a fun experience and typically one I do not look forward to with any degree of excitement.
This trip to the DMV was no exception. It didn’t help that I was already aggravated over losing the stupid license. But it’s just something that a sane person doesn’t want to be without – a sane person who drives, at any rate.
So off I went to the nearby license bureau to explain myself. The young man behind the Plexiglas was much less concerned about my loss than I felt he should be. He was also not very interested in my answers to the multiple questions he had. These questions seemed a bit insipid – like “how long have I lived in Ohio?” and “where was I born?” First of all, shouldn’t the massive database have all that information? Some facts about my life simply do not change from year to year. And secondly, why is it important to know that I’ve lived in Ohio for 56 years?
Ah well, he finally got through the amazing list of questions, most of which I had difficulty hearing through his mask and the glass, and got to the really awful part – the photo. Now, this is a photo that will be on your person or in your wallet for the next four years. It will identify you to all manner of important authority figures in important life situations. Yet, they seem to train the photographers to take the picture at the exact instant at which you are making a face that you’ve never made before and that makes you look positively loony. And there are no do-overs!
I’m not basing this assertion on my own experience alone. My husband – a very attractive man at any age – carried around a picture for four years that made him look like an escapee from San Quentin!
But I got the picture – a black-and-white version on a printed piece of paper that had to be folded six times to fit in my wallet. This is temporary until I receive my “real” license. It will be hard plastic that fits perfectly into the designated slot. The photo will be the same hideous one.
Ah well, speaking of photos. I was in the lab the other day to have routine blood work taken. While there, I noticed a sign posted that said “ABSOLUTELY NO PHOTOS, VIDEOS, OR RECORDINGS OF ANY KIND IN THIS ROOM!” They seemed serious about this, and I inquired about it. I just couldn’t imagine why you’d have to tell people having their blood drawn not to photograph it.
The phlebotomist explained that some folks enjoy taking videos or photos and posting them on social media.
Seriously? I don’t like watching it happen to me. In fact, I do not watch it happen; I studiously stare at posters on an opposite wall. I sure as heck don’t want to watch someone else have blood drawn on their Tic-Tac-Toe wall, or whatever.
It takes all kinds, I guess. Speaking of all kinds – I went to the bank this morning and when they asked me for my ID, I pulled out my six-folded piece of paper. Along with it, my driver’s license slipped out as well.
Of course, it’s not valid now. But it’s nice to know I didn’t lose it – I just put it in the wrong compartment!
ah SIS – is it NOT a joy to be getting older each year and even older each 4 years –
and they tell us that a picture is worth a thousand words HA HA HA
more like a million words and all sarcasm working with the viewer !!!
have fun and so glad you did not lose your old photo to someone who
would try to use it illegally and put you in a bigger bind!!
more fun with the computer today – plumber came yesterday to start the work and
will be back next week to continue!!
I was giggling all the way through this snippet because I knew at the end that Susie had found her old driver’s license. And it must have been in the right compartment because that is where she stashed her temporary six-folded piece of paper! It’s sort of like when I’m looking for my glasses and I’m wearing them! You didn’t lose them and they were in the place where you always kept them!
Oh, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I had to renew my driver’s license in February this year. I don’t hear well anyway… and behind Plexiglas and wearing a mask! “Weight change?’ I have no idea what’s on the driver’s license, so I answered, no. Color of hair? I said, “Blonde. Revlon’s #60 dark ash blonde with no ammonia.” I mean… “You’re looking at me! What do you see?!”
You’re right, Sus. Shouldn’t that massive database have all that information!? And what right do they have asking if you want to contribute to this or that. I have my own charities that I like and contribute to.
Yes, the photos are the worst part. You are wrong about the do-overs. As if one photo wasn’t enough, someone stepped in front of me as they were taking my picture. Do-over.
If I’m blessed to renew my driver’s license in another four years, I’m going to wear a black and white striped blouse just for the hell of it. (Grandma said it’s a man-made word). San Quentin, here I come! Keep writing, Susie!
Here’s another card (no photo needed, thankfully), that you must keep track of and monitor closely… your credit card! Not only losing it, but your monthly statement. Our bill came in the other day with a charge of over $3,000! Twice the amount it usually is! “Someone has stolen our card and they’re using it!” That was my first thought, but looking closer I saw that I had failed to pay the previous month’s bill, plus they had added a fee and interest charge that totaled $55.66! I won’t tell you what credit card it is, but you can probably discover it on your own. Now this wouldn’t be so bad if you were always delinquent in paying your bills, but I usually pay ours the day they arrive and I do it online BEFORE the due date. In the 28 years we have had this card, I have NEVER made a late payment. Our credit score history is listed as EXCEPTIONAL! Where is the grace here?
I called the company right away and talked to a really nice person. Jamie agreed to credit me $29.00, but we would have to pay the interest charge of $26.66. I didn’t think it was fair, but my dearly beloved had told me not to call at all, just pay it. Jamie was having somewhat of a problem with her computer and kept saying, “I don’t know why it won’t accept it!” She even called her computer “a turd!” AKA fecal matter. She tried several times putting in the charge of $3,055.95… finally mission accomplished.
The next day we got a call from our bank’s Fraud Department saying we had a charge of $6,111.90 on our credit card and they had temporarily locked our bank account. Yes, little Jamie had charged us double because it seems her computer was a piece of… fecal matter.
But I think I will still write a personal letter to the CEO of our credit card company just for the fun of it. I mean, why can’t they be a little nicer at least to their faithful, long-time customers with a grace period of one month. Is that asking too much? Have a heart, Roger. Fifty-five years old and a net worth of $158 million! tsk, tsk.
Bets – tel them you are working for Elon Musk = surley that will help them cut some slack your way!!
LOL! Good idea, John! I might try that!