Death, Taxes, and the DMV

The old saying is that nothing is certain but death and taxes. I believe, however, that the saying should be “Nothing is certain but death, taxes, and visits to the DMV.” At least here in So Cal, EVERYONE ends up at the DMV. Even if you don’t own a car and don’t have a driver’s license, you still have to go to the DMV to get a California ID.

As I mentioned yesterday I had to go to the DMV. I survived the experience, although it was both better and worse than I expected. The form I had to fill out asked such mind-boggling questions as what date I bought the 12-year-old car in question and what I paid for said car. Even though those questions were in the fields I was supposed to fill in, I apparently didn’t REALLY need to provide that information because I didn’t and they didn’t seem to care. On the better side, I was called quite quickly for my turn at window number 1. But I was still left with plenty of time to people watch.

I think the DMV is the only place in California where absolutely every type of person imaginable has to converge. I looked around that big old room and saw every persuasion possible, including middle-aged white women wearing capris, tennis shoes and t-shirts in bright colors. OK, that was me, but remember I wasn’t feeling well!

But really, I did see every race, every cultural background, every economic background, every age, and every religion. How could I tell the religious background of the people I was seeing, you might be wondering? Well, lets see, there was the young Catholic nun in her habit with her big old cross hanging around her neck. There was also the Sikh gentleman with his turban and his two small children. I admit I didn’t see any head veils or burkas, but I bet if I went another day I could see that as well.

I wonder if they advertised the DMV as the “Crossroads of Many Cultures” if we would all feel a little better about going there….