More on The DMV

Well we went in yesterday to the DMV and got our drivers licenses changed over. We were a little apprehensive and expected this to be a really funny story. Fully expected attitude and abuse and we were willing to take it if necessary. Well to say we were pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. We showed up, the first time around 10:30, got the forms for the license and filled them out. We thought we had all the bases covered based on our research. We had our old licenses, social security cards and passports. Well the sign on the wall said we also needed our birth certificates. So rather than ask we just went back to the apartment and got them. We returned about 45 minutes later, around 11:15 or so, got in what even by stateside standards was a normal length line for a DMV and about ten minute later we were handing paperwork to the cashier and doing our best good mornings and smiles. She never really warmed up but she was by no means rude and she was fairly efficient. Of course she had to come out of her locked booth, collect our id's lock up her booth then cross the hall into another locked office to make copies. I assume if the copier had chosen that moment to break then this would be a totally different story since there appeared to be only one in the building. After a few minute she returned to her booth, re locking herself in, returned the originals and charged us the $45 apiece for the licenses. Then she hands the properly attached forms to us and sends us across the hall to the camera person. The camera lady was very pleasant and proper, we even got her to smile and acknowledged our greeting. She took both sets of paper work gave them a quick once over then sent us back out into the waiting area. In few minutes she asked Debra to come back in, apparently she needed to enter the data privately, then she snapped her picture and took her thumbprint via scanner, thanked her and asked her to wait in the lobby again. A few minutes later it was my turn, by that point Deb's license had printed and she handed it to me. I went back to the lobby and within five minutes mine had printed as well. So all the horror stories about doctors exams and eye exams seem to be incorrect. I do know from previous research that the rules changed sometime last year. As long as you surrender you stateside license approval is automatic, no tests or exams. So the whole process including the time it took to go back and get the birth certificates, which it turns out the lady didn't even look at, took a little less than two hours. Not bad at all by island time standards.
Jay