If you are over the age of 15, then I think you will understand the struggles of what it is like to wait in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles. It is an absolute struggle. Waiting in that line has become such a norm; there are even movies and TV shows that imitate what a wait inside a DMV is like. The best and most recent example I will use is from the Pixar movie "Zootopia." In the film, the DMV employees were portrayed as sloths to poke fun at the (accurate) stereotype of a slow moving DMV. Here are some thoughts I've had at the DMV, and some that you've probably had, too.
1. Am I at the right place? Am I supposed to be here at this time?
Whether you are at the DMV for an appointment or just going on your own free time, more often than not, when you walk into a DMV, you feel like you're not supposed to be there. I recently visited a DMV out of my home state and I didn’t even believe that I was in the right building. If you go there for an appointment, the amount of time that you wait makes you feel like making an appointment wasn’t even worth it! Seeing so many people get called before you even though you had an appointment at a specific time is one of the most frustrating feelings.
2. Why is half the city in this one room?
It doesn’t matter what time you go. It doesn’t matter if you get to the DMV as soon as it opens, during your lunch break or even if you go when you think no one will be there. There will always be what seems like hundreds of people jam packed inside one room. All the chairs are taken and there are people standing along the corner of the room, waiting for someone to get called so that they can finally sit down.
3. How long have I been here? Oh, only ten minutes.
From the minute that you get a call-number from the front desk, it becomes a waiting game. Some people play on their phones while others talk to the people they brought with them or the people around them. Then there are others who just stare off into the distance, and it makes you wonder if they’re sleeping with their eyes open. Each minute goes by like molasses. I normally find myself going through every social media site and then more, only to discover that I had only passed maybe ten minutes of time. Keeping yourself from becoming too bored is a real struggle when total strangers who are all waiting for the same thing surround you.
4. Wait, is that actually my number?!
The moment that you hear your number called sounds like music from heaven. For me, I am in such disbelief that finally, after so much time waiting, my number has been called. The few steps it takes to get to the employee behind the counter feels like walking on air. You feel triumphant. Then, as is the case with myself, the employee says words that you were hoping you wouldn’t hear. “You don’t have (insert specific document here).” As your gut sinks, you leave knowing that you’re going to have to come back to this place, and do the entire process all over again. Ultimately, it is a never-ending cycle that you will never escape.
So, whether your DMV experience is a good one or a bad one, have fun waiting in those lines and don’t get discouraged, because I promise that you will eventually reach that counter with all the appropriate documents.
