I walked into a room full of people at the department of motor vehicles last Thursday. My first instinct was to turn around and walk out, but alas, it was imperative I renewed my driver’s license. I pulled out a #2 ticket from the Take-A-Number dispenser on the wall, and looked for the “now-serving” display, but couldn’t find it. I asked a person sitting next to the ticket dispenser what number we were on.
“Eighty-six,” she said, pointing to the display on the wall behind us, “but it’s moving very, very slow!” Several others shook their heads in mournful agreement.
“A few people have already left!” One man said disgustedly. It was going to be a long, long wait. I ran to the car, got a book to read, and came back. I chose one of the three empty chairs on one side of the room, near the customer service counter. Continue reading