Surviving the DMV

A few weeks ago, the ominous summons came in the mail - time to renew my husband's Virginia state photo I.D. card (in lieu of driver's license, since he can't drive anymore) - IN PERSON - every five years they need to take a new photo and this was the year. Naturally, the thought of taking Vince to the DMV in his very disabled condition filled me with dread, as it is always very crowded and you have to wait and wait and wait.

I tried to reach the DMV on the phone to see if they made any special accommodations for handicapped people - I just got busy signals all day. So, today being a day with no other obligations and the only day this week that rain was not predicted (you don't want to try to get Vince in and out of the car in the rain), I decided this was the day to get it done.

I thought I prepared well, remembering Vince's wallet, his I.D. renewal application, extra Depends, fruit bars in case of starvation, and a Reader's Digest magazine for Vince to look at while waiting. But - as soon as we drove up to the DMV, I realized I should have brought him a hat because the line was out the door and it was getting hot - I didn't think we'd have to be outside.

I asked my aide to wheel Vince over to some shade while I waited in line. After a few minutes, a security guard thankfully came up to Vince and allowed us to go inside and take a number. I was very grateful for that, but as it turned out, that was the end of our handicap "perks." We still had to wait an hour and a half to do our business. Our number was A092 and they were up to A079 when we came in - BUT, aside from A's, there are B's, C's, D's, and E's, all of which were being called faster than A's. Even an occasional G was thrown in. There were several windows with service reps, and every few minutes a whispery female robo-voice would announce "Now serving number E??? (they called more E's than other letters)" at window number whatever." I felt like I was at a Bingo game, waiting for A092 to be called so we could win. After about an hour, I found myself softly announcing the numbers with the robo-voice - there wasn't much else to do.

After about an hour, I also started quietly praying that we would actually get through this. Vince was fine - luckily, he's just always quiet and calm and out-of-it - but I was getting a little woozy because believe it or not - this modern-day DMV was not air-conditioned!! There were ceiling fans, and they probably can't run air-conditioning since the lines are always out the door and the door remains open, but I don't do well in humidity (which was climbing today).

Well, they finally called A092 to window 12, so off we went, feeling like I'd won a lottery. After the initial business, we were sent over to get Vince's photo taken. We were almost done - sort of. Because Vince was in a wheelchair, he needed to go to a special camera - attached to a separate computer which needed to be booted up and signed in by at least two service reps - this took some time, but then we were ready for the photo. That wasn't too easy, either, getting Vince to look at the correct spot and keep his head in the exact correct position (they are quite finicky about that). But again we prevailed, went back to window 12, paid our ten dollars, and we were on our way. The new I.D. card will arrive in the mail.

Phew!!! I feel so accomplished to have gotten that done - believe me, it IS a big deal from this caregiver's point of view. And we don't have to take Vince back to the DMV for another five years!!!!