Today I was tortured by a government agency. I had to renew my Texas driver’s license and couldn’t do it online or by mail because it had been twenty years since I had had a new photo.
I suggested to my sister that since we were out and she knew where the office was that she take me. Boy, do I owe her! At 11:30 am there were about ten people waiting to check in at the information desk. The waiting room was full, all seats taken, and people were standing.
I checked in, got a number and a short form to fill out. After a while, they called some numbers, and I found a chair to sit in to fill out the form. There was no rush. I glanced through the information desk window and saw that there were two (2)people manning the desks and cameras. People would get up and change places, but there were never more than three people processing the throng of consumers.
It took three hours! I really felt sorry for my sister who was simply waiting, but the real cruelty was for young mothers who had to feed and hold young children for that length of time. At no time did the number of people waiting significantly decrease. Some people did come and go during the time. By the way, I needed to use the bathroom facilities and found only one, not even male and female, with a sign that said “Please knock”. Oh lordy, make people wait three hours and provide limited bathroom facilities.
I live in India so, while it was boring, waiting is something that is not foreign to me. My sister asked, “Feel familiar?” I responded that the biggest difference was that there was air conditioning. It is truly amazing to me that this is what government functioning has come to. No wonder people respond so to the Republican criticism of government. It is possible that the promise of functioning government and provision of services that don’t require a day lost from work, or simply a day lost, is something democrats should seriously consider.
The actual process takes about 5 minutes. The lady/gentleman types in your name from your old license, asks your social security number, takes your money, checks your eyes, has you give an electronic signature, gets your left and right thumbprints, and takes your picture. Then, you are given two pieces of paper to sign. Now, there has got to be a better way to organize the service or they need to hire more people. There were other camera-computer stations unmanned.
Ok, I survived the torture and am replacing fluids.
