At the DMV

Finally, we were called to the desk and told to go to counter 13 (I felt right away this was a bad omen). I told my friend to stay seated and I waited a bit for the DMV rep at counter 13. She said I had to fill out a form on one of their computers and then come back to her. It was a challenge. I put in the wrong answer and ended up in an endless loop.

When the DMV person was finally able to help, I had to run back to my friend to get her Social Security number and her license number. After about 30 minutes, the task was complete and I was given a sheet of paper that said check in time 1:54 p.m. and was assigned number F076, a number I will never forget.

By this time my elderly friend was in a dither. What was happening? Why was it taking so long? So we sat and were transfixed by the numbers. There is a screen with many numbers which I thought was a clue to our placement. There were Bs being called and occasional Fs. After about an hour of this, I hunted up the clerk at counter 13 and asked what was happening. She said there were 13 people ahead of us. Luckily, my friend had brought reading material. I had not. Even looking at my mobile phone and checking mail made me dizzy. I was in a dreamlike world waiting and waiting for a magic number to be called. Eventually F075 was called and I had a sudden hope we might be, if not next, maybe the next after that, or the next after. All good things must come to an end. Our number was called. My friend got a temporary ID and had her photo taken. She looked pretty sad by then. And we were off.

***

Advice to the DMV and those doing business there. Please provide detailed instructions when you make an appointment online. It would have saved so much time and angst if we went to the right place in the first place. Also it would have been much easier and quicker and have taken up less staff time if we could have completed the necessary form online.

***

Thank goodness I had my license renewed last year. But even that was a challenge. I couldn’t get an appointment in time before my license expired (one needs to make that appointment months in advance) so on advice from those in the know I got in line at 7 a.m. for those without appointments. And when the doors finally opened the line moved slowly but surely. It was actually a much smoother process than the one last week.

The DMV has been under attack for the long lines resulting from the need for special driver’s license IDs to use at airports by 2020. They are adding more staff and said they were putting in kiosks to help shorten the wait. Again, specific instructions before arriving at DMV would be helpful to all concerned.

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.