Ok. It isn't a rant. Not really anything close. While I can't say it was a pleasant experience, it wasn't a bad one. I don't recall ever having a negative experience there. Much of the time, I enjoy sitting watching people do things so the DMV lets me see a group of people sharing a cultural situation together, not unlike my joy of watching people at a high school football game.
On of the endearing qualities of being me is that I'm always trying to figure things out. I remember my mission companion in Switzerland getting annoyed at my constant watching the trains come and go out of the train station. While I do have a pleasure in looking at infrastructure, much of that staring had to do with my figuring out the circuits established by the locomotives through the overhead lines. I do that kind of thing a lot.
So I was at the DMV. I picked up my number at a desk and sat down. The ticket said H258. That was an odd number. As I sat and watched the workers come in for the morning, I tried to work out if there was a situation where certain agents did certain things. You know, this one spoke spanish and armenian, this one handled motorcycle renewals...that kind of thing. I didn't see much rhyme or reason so I just decided to sit there and watch. Some people were late for their numbers and didn't get to their agent so they had to wait again. Others were coming in for their driving test or their first licence...
Which reminds me. About the only thing truly interesting that happened to me in a DMV was when I lived in Arizona and needed to get a license. A young man went up to the counter and next thing I know, yelling ensued. I don't know what the laws were but something about marking the license so he could buy liquor or something like that. He wasn't 21 so the agent said he can't do anything about it so he'll have to wait. He didn't like that answer and stormed out yelling about how he'd still get his booze regardless.
Anyway, while I was sitting there, I mused about that odd number. I followed the way the numbers were called out and looking for a pattern. I did discern one and I eventually got it. The numbers were somewhat random and knowing a bit of human psychology, I think I realized the genius behind the number selection. Have the numbers random or at least seemingly random enough so that a casual observer wouldn't see the pattern. Having it like that means that the people waiting would have to be somewhat alert. No trips to the bathroom in anticipation for a long wait. No snoozing lest you miss your slot. Also, it wouldn't allow the user to become annoyed by having to wait 30 people back. They'd have no idea how long they had to wait. I almost wanted to verbalize "That's freaking genius!" when I figured out the reasoning behind it. It used our own psychology against us, not unlike what Disney does to use while waiting for the rides. Yep, the DMV is manipulating us too, probably to avoid riots.
Still, I highly recommend a mid-week, early morning visit if you must go. It is a lot less crowded.
BTW, this visit also elicited a dream which I posted on Facebook on November 16.
I had a dream last night that I took a woman on a date...to the DMV.
I never realized what a failure of a human being I am.
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