Last week, I got my license renewed at the DMV. In addition to lugging my four children to the state agency, I also brought along my friend Gayle who needed her license renewed too.
Before departing for our epic journey, I called the three closest DMV offices to my house.
"Generally speaking," I asked the receptionists, "When is your least busy time of the day?"
The answers I received varied from the informative "I don't know" to the specific "It depends." Armed with such valuable decision-making tools, I erred on the side of caution and went to the DMV located across the street from a Burger King.
Gayle waited in the car with the kids while I scoped out the situation. I was disheartened to discover a room packed with people. I was relieved, however, to find an efficient organizational infrastructure to manage the crowd. A large sign at the doorway instructed me to 1) take a number from a ticket dispenser and then 2) take a seat.
I took two numbers--one for me and one for Gayle--and then went outside to tell the troops to brace for a long haul. Almost immediately, Gayle decided that it would be prudent to space our numbers so that my kids wouldn't have to get out of the car. I agreed, so after a few minutes, I went inside and took another number. Unfortunately, it was an even number and I prefer odds, so I was compelled to take another ticket. When I sat down, I noticed that the woman next to me had seven numbers in her hand. This caused me to worry that I was not the only person in the room stockpiling numbers for no good reason. I remedied the situation by grabbing three more numbers. As I went to sit down for the third time in two minutes, I definitely saw the woman behind me roll her eyes. Just to prove that I am not the sort to be bullied, I got up and retrieved another number.
You will be proud to know that I waited a whole seven minutes before taking yet another number.
By the time my first number was called, I had eleven of the numbers between 60 and 97 in my purse.
After getting my license, I returned to the car where I presented Gayle with a plethora of numerical options. Strangely, she chose the ticket that was next in line.... despite the fact that it was an even number.
Posts
