All in the Name of Being Legal

So according to the law down here, you're supposed to obtain a driver's license before sixty days. You'd think that would be plenty of time but it actually slipped away pretty fast.

When I first got down here I was staying in temporary housing. When I finally found a place and got a different job, that was when I had the wisdom tooth issue. After that there never seemed to be time because like most new jobs, there was a probationary period that you couldn't take time off.

My first attempt at getting my driver's license ended after waiting in line for an hour only to be told that I needed an original birth certificate in order to apply. I told the woman I checked the website and I didn't see where it stated I needed a birth certificate. Her response to that was yeah the website is very confusing but it's on there. I left the office mad enough to choke somebody.

I had left a nice amount of my paperwork up north with my mom so she had to mail me my birth certificate. Now she mails me my bills express mail, but my birth certificate she sent regular snail mail. It finally arrives in the mail and I plan to go at some point during the week.

I got lucky when my training class let out early which meant I could head to the Driver's License office. You'd think that there wouldn't be so many people there at 1:00 on a Wednesday afternoon. Oh well, I had to suck it up and get in line.

After standing in line 45 minutes, I produced all the paperwork the woman asked for and felt like I had accomplished a small victory. She directed me to another lady who handed out numbers and after securing my number I went to finally have a seat.

Two hours came and went and I felt like a lottery winner when my number was called, I practically sprinted from my seat. The office didn't accept any type of credit/debit cards just cash and checks. I had my BFF check the website to see how much a new license would cost me and after looking around my car for a $1 in change I had the exact amount $24.

The lady ahead of me was taking forever and the processor in another line took pity on me and said I could step to her counter. I gave her all the paperwork and after her typing a word a minute, she finally had all my info stored into the computer.

"That will be $25," she said. My face was so flushed, you'd have thought I wasn't black. I asked her to repeat that and again she said $25. I leaned in whispering that I thought it was $24. She said yeah it was until about two weeks ago, we got new computers so it went up a dollar. I was screaming all kind of obscenities in my head. I quietly asked her if I could run to the car, to which she loudly asked "WHY?!"

I explained in my most hushed voice that I only had $24 on me. She told me to wait a minute and got up from her seat. She came back with a dollar and told me a story about how she was $1.64 short at Walmart last week and how embarassed she was. Two men in line behind her gave her enough to pay her bill and she wanted to pay it forward by helping me.

I thanked her and ran out of that office. I know that I'm next in line to pay it forward for someone else but man, was I embarassed!