I am very happy to report that not only was yesterday’s experience at the DMV successful and Rob now has his driver’s license, but also the clerks were NOTHING LIKE the one we had on a previous occasion.
When we arrived, the line was long, but after about 5 minutes I didn’t even mind waiting, because I COULD HEAR THE CLERKS. AND THEY WERE BEING NORMAL AND NICE AND HELPFUL. A man was applying for a handicapped plate, and the clerk asked him if he wanted one little card to hang on the rearview mirror, or two. He said, “Well…we just have one car, so one I guess,” and the clerk said in a helping, friendly voice, “Some people like to have two: that way you can put one in your car, and your wife could carry one in her purse in case she goes out in a friend’s car. And it’s no extra cost for the second one.” And he said, “Oh! All right, then! Two.”
The other clerk had the unpleasant task of telling a customer that she (the customer) had just waited in a 20-minute line for a service that required a stop at Town Hall before it could be done at the DMV. Instead of brusquely dismissing her and making her feel stupid for not knowing, the clerk’s tone was sympathetic. Like, “Oh…I’m afraid the Town Hall has to process this before we can do our part.” When the customer responded, ungraciously, “How was I supposed to know that?,” the clerk did not get rude in response.
I didn’t hear another customer’s situation, but as he finished up he said “And thank you for being so nice,” and the clerk said, “Hey! Don’t let word get around! We have a reputation to keep up!” It made me feel as if maybe I had something in my eye.
So all of this is to say that as we stood in line I felt quite certain that whether or not we were successful in the day’s attempt, we would at LEAST not be dealt with unpleasantly by someone who was glad to be taking us down. And indeed this was the case. The clerk took the whole pile of papers and looked through it in a relaxed way, like a normal person looking to make sure everything was all set, rather than acting rushed and barking demands for particular papers and acting as if she hoped to find problems. And then there WERE no problems! And then Rob took the written portion and passed! And then he took the driving portion and passed! And then we had to wait in line again for half an hour, but that wasn’t anyone’s fault: it was just a long line. And when we got to the front of the line, the clerk said, “Yay, you made it!” And as we left, other people in line said to Rob, “Congratulations!”
In short: a completely different experience. I’ll bet these clerks HATE working with that other clerk.
Hooray! Oh, that’s so nice. What a relief for you!
YOU HAVE A CHILD WHO CAN LEGALLY DRIVE A CAR.
Can you even believe it?
Hooray! But also OMG YOUR SON IS A LICENSED DRIVER.
Thanks for the update! I’m still wondering what you decided about jobs and vacations.
I feel PERSONALLY RELIEVED at this news.
What a satisfying end to the story – so glad to hear this. And congratulations to Rob!
This is excellent news.
Also won’t it be nice when you can resolve your scheduling problems by getting Rob to drive siblings around?
This is why I waited to get my license until I was almost ready to move out of my parents house. My parents said “Get your license! We’ll make you drive your siblings around!” Though I hate driving, so maybe that had something to do with not getting my license right away.
Congratulations to Rob! What a milestone!
Oh YAY! So nice to hear of helpful people; it’s so rare these days. And CONGRATS to Rob! What a milestone.
Congratulations to Rob! Glad to hear things went smoothly this time; nothing is more frustrating than being prepared and having everything you were told you needed, only to discover that as you are not a mind-reader, you didn’t bring Item X so you have to return another day.
Congrats on the drivers license! I think you should write a letter–I think this one should compliment the people that helped you and mention that this was so refreshing compared to the clerk you dealt with previously. Name names if you can–if not name times. It may be the supervisor needs to gather evidence to get rid of the nasty clerk.
Thank goodness! And OMG! You have a driver. Eeeps!
When I took my US driver’s licence test as a new immigrant, the DMV lady told me chattily that she was glad I wasn’t an Asian lady, because they always drove so badly that she made a point of failing them. I was more than a little dumbfounded. My husband thought I’d failed because of my expression when I got out of the car. I told him ‘So, the DMV lady is crazy-racist’, and he said ‘Did she pass you? OK, let’s just get out of here.’
I still feel bad I didn’t report her, but I hadn’t been in the country very long at that point, and didn’t want to rock the boat.