3.31.2005

Monday I kept thinking about Candid Camera the TV show. Not the new one, the original.

One of my clients and I were trying to wade through a mess of paperwork at the DMV and one particular episode kept poking it's way into my psyche. In the epidose a guy walks into a bank. Unbeknownst to him all the tellers and other customers are in on the joke. He gets in one of the lines for a teller. His line is at a stand still while the other lines seem to be moving quickly. So he decides to change lines. Then the new line he's in is stagnant and the previous line is moving rapidly. Frustrated he changes lines again. This keeps happening for a while before they do the standard "Smile, you're on Candid Camera!"

I was at the DMV because Jane (not her real name) lost her purse and wallet. She swears someone stole it. I'm not so sure -- she loses absolutely everything. Even her toothbrush. Most people keep it ithe bathroom. She wandered around the house with it and lost it. And her comb. And her other purse. And her box of depends. And... well you get the drift. I digress... so she lost her wallet with all her identification in it. Her previous case worker had helped her get copies of some of her cards, but was having trouble getting her photo id. Now it's in my lap.

The DMV won't issue Jane a new ID until we bring in a copy of her marriange license. We wrote to the vital records office in Richmond but they sent back our request saying we had to send a copy of her DMV ID before they could release the marriage license. Right. Sure. Good luck.

So we went to the DMV to talk to them. Surely they would see how inane this whole thing is. Surely having Jane's birth certificate, her medicaid card, her medicare card, and proof of residency would be enough. She had gotten an ID 6 years earlier so they had her picture in their system. Couldn't they just look at the ID and confirm that she is who she says she is?

Apparently not.

I spent a good 10 minutes trying to explain how impossible this situation is. The DMV lady was very apologetic and sympathetic, but she couldn't give us an ID. Jane was getting frustrated and told the lady, "You know... I'm not a terrorist or anything. I promise." We got back in the car and Jane turns to me and says, "You know this is all because of 9-11, But I'm not a terrorist. I told her I wasn't. This whole thing doesn't make any sense."

How do you argue with that?

4 Comments:

At 9:45 AM , Blogger Goddess Adrasteia said...

When I moved to Virginia from Pennsylvania, I wanted to keep my driver's license (it being my first one and all), but the reason was equally that they didn't want me selling it on the street to underage kids or to potential terrorists). Because, you know, I look like a leprechaun (red hair, green eyes, freckles, pasty skin), and everybody from Ireland's gonna start hurling potatoes at the Pentagon one of these days. ;)

 
At 7:51 PM , Blogger Mopsie said...

Wow... I'm sure glad they kept your license... those potatoes can be deadly! ;o)

 
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