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| A photo for your eyeballs enjoyment... |
There are times when I wish I was ballsy and I could snap photos of the people and things that I see that are wacky. But that takes guts--guts that I don't have.
I took Em to the DMV the other day to get her driver's license. Okay, so it probably wasn't the best idea to go the day after a holiday weekend, the place was loaded with interesting characters--not including us. And as the guy waved us over to the waiting area packed with folks, I knew we were going to have plenty of fun people watching.
Oh, there was the woman with a skirt and top too large for her frame, topped off by a long brown wig akin to the one that E.T. the Extraterrestrial wore playing dress-up in that movie. Another dame had tight pants on, sides all slit up the side so that it looked like she had just wiped out on the motorcycle she drove in on. They left very little to the imagination.
And I'm still wondering about the amount of people there who had difficulty walking. I have never seen so many walkers, canes, limps, and hobbles as I did in that room. I was hoping they were all there for state I.D.'s because it would have been really scary if they were all gonna drive somewhere with those bum limbs.
My personal favorite was the old couple sitting next to us as we waited for the driving test. The employee called the woman up and told her to pull her car around for the test--but she just stood there next to him. When he called the name of the old guy with her, she was waving her arm to him, motioning that it was his turn to drive as well.
The employee turned to her and asked what she was doing, she replied that the man could not hear him, so she was telling him that his name was being called. Yeah, strike one. If you can't hear the man call your name, maybe you shouldn't be driving--you know, in case there is a horn honking or perhaps a siren coming.....
So, the old dude walks all wobbly-like with his cane over to the employee and asks what he is supposed to do. Strike two. The dude can barely walk AND he can't hear up close either. I'd be flunking the geezer at this point--and I think I said "FLUNK!" a little too loudly because the girl next to me started cracking up.
Aw, gees this was one very scary place. I watched as people hobbled in and out, leaned up against one grease-stained backdrop for their driver's license photos, and grimaced their best gangster grin for the camera. I actually told Em not to lean back when she got her photo taken, for that grease stain was a wee bit disconcerting.
After a few hours of waiting, Em got her license, the motorcycle dame with the holes in her pants sped off, fabric flapping in the breeze, and ET passed her eye exam.
The old guy? He took his driving test and returned with the examiner to the desk. Apparently he must have run over some people or something because they flunked him---thank god.
24 comments:
I'm so glad they flunked the old dude. There are enough of them out there on the road.
Good luck to you as your Em hits the roadways. I know she'll be fine, but you'll be worried about her. :)
I can almost guarentee that old geezer will drive, regardless if his license was revoked. The geezer are just like that! (Ask my hubby, he deals with them all the time.)
That one might have to run over some people, as you suggested, in order to flunk is a very scary proposition.
Eh, what am I worried about? My license is good until I'm 81. ;-)
Congrats, Em. You drive safely, young lady.
Can't pass up the opportunity to share this. When my 88 year-old mil flunked her driving test, she went into a snit when we refused to take her to a neighboring county so she could have a "do over."
Congrats Em! Just please don't text at the same time. My son tells me to calm down when he does and ends up 2 inches from the car in front. Yes I know its illegal now-see if that has stopped.
You sound like you're talking about gpa. At 89 in 2009 he went and the person said ok I'll renew him one more year but that's it. He almost caused an accident in the parking lot. (When I was there I witnessed the desk person telling the elderly person taking the eye exam what to say then passing him). So last year at 90 we braced for him blessedly not passing (can you say dent in my car after five payments??) Wouldn't you know, at 90, walking with a walker and asking the same thing over and over and over, not knowing what day it is and having gotten lost in the rain driving five blocks home-they passed him. His son, my boss, says he is a good driver. At 91 this coming October I am not holding out hope.
Congratulations to Em!
The DMV is a hellhole
I never take a book to read while I'm waiting at the DMV. As you know, it's too much fun to just watch the folks that congregate in that place. :)
I always say if I want to see some interesting people, go go the DMV or the county courthouse. (Hide popcorn in your purse.)
Most of the DMVs have security too. I wonder if it's because of the people you've described??
Congrats to Em on being an official licensed driver!
Not sure if it's comforting to know your teen is one of the safest on the road...or not?!
How many fat people is too many? Just want to make sure I fit within the reader quota....the fat reader quota......?
You think the DMV is fun? Go to your local social services offices. :( I wouldn't bring a camera there, though.
Oh my what fun! The people watching is primo in government agencies like that...
(You have the most imaginative word verifications. Today I got coosify. I wonder what that means?)
The DMV sounds like more fun to people watch than the airport! Congrats to Em for getting her license!
I for sure thought you were going to say the old guy passed. Lin, I was at a grocery store once and you know those credit card machines? The woman had her face down on it to read it so she could put her pin in and when I left I saw her drive out in a giant van. I mean the woman couldnt see well enough to use a credit card but she could dive well enough to cream a school bus. shiver
I would love to go to the DMV with you.....
Hmn...maybe they were all there faking it trying to get a handy dandy handicapped parking decal. I swear, nothing will make a full grown man develop a limp sooner. Sad.
Yay for Em though!
Congratulations to Em! I have always wanted to drive a car myself.
You need to learn covert photography. I'm not sure if I'm actually all that covert myself, but I don't let that stop me from snapping shots of people wearing funny looking things. They are some of my favorite photos! Maybe I'll devote a blog post to them some day ;0)
You need to get one of those phones that you can take pictures with. Then you pretend to be texting, but you're actually taking pics...and no, I've never tried this myself. I'm not ballsy enough!
I'm glad though that the story had a happy ending: Em got her license, and old deaf dude failed, hopefully not taking any lives in the process...sheesh...I never want to get old!
we have this one guy working at our DMV ... whenever I get together with certain people we ALWAYS talk about him, it's like a continuing conversation, year after year, same guy different antics
people watching can be so fun and amusing sometimes. I wish I had the nerve to take pictures of some of the people I see too.
I'm glad to hear the old guy didn't pass
Congrats to Em on joining the driving public. I am making my son wait until he's 35 to drive. Might avoid a FLUNK or two. ;)
Violet--I'm worried about her because of all of those people they should be flunking!!!
Jodi--Yep. I'm sure he was back in line to try again. Scary, eh?
Vanilla--It's such a difficult thing to flunk these people because you then cut them off of surviving and doing for themselves. I get it, but I also see how bad they drive and it is very dangerous. It's a tough call.
Helene--That is some scary stuff, Helene. And their family members want them to pass so they don't have to do for the old guy. Scary, scary stuff. I think they have to kill someone before they are finally refused a license.
Pricilla--Ours isn't too bad because the employees are nice. It's the clientele that is scary!
Chuck--Oh, man, it was HILARIOUS! I could have sat there all day watching those people.
Chocolate--Oh yeah, the courthouse too. And Walmart. Where do these people come from???
Diana--Yeah, Em felt sorry for the guy until I explained that is who SHE will be looking out for. She got it then.
Shieldmaiden--I'm sorry--I certainly didn't mean to offend. I want you to know that I come from a family with 3 gastric bypasses in its history, so we is chubby here too. That said, this was extreme. And the sheer numbers were extreme--that what was so striking to me. And not in a good way.
Rebecca--Boy, there was every walk of life in this place. It was interesting to say the least. And I don't think a camera would have been a good thing here either--my life would have been at risk.
Grace--Yeah, I'm glad we had some time there to people watch. :)
Beaded Tail--Oh, it is definitely more fun to people watch at the DMV because there were all walks of life! I had a case of the giggles the whole time!
Tracy--Isn't that scary??! There was an eye exam thing next to us and they were all but pointing out the lights to the woman. SCARY! I wonder why they feel the need to pass everyone?
Betty--Oh, I think we'd be giggling the WHOLE time!! I'll let you know the next time I go....
Nancy--That's what I wondered!
Daisy--Maybe you can go driving with Bert and Ernie in their car!
Bumbles--Oh, that would be a great blog post! I'd love to see it. I'm such a chicken!
Sandra--I'm not that good with my phone. I still struggle with the camera feature and the photos are always fuzzy. And I'd feel guilty about doing it anyway, so, I guess it is good that I don't.
Lauren--Oh, that's funny! Surprisingly, there has been an overhaul at our DMV and the employees are actually nice!
Ann--I'm glad he didn't pass either....for now. I'm guessing he is going back for another try.
DG--It is so darn scary when your kids start to drive! Not only are you worried about them, but you are worried that there are more bad drivers out there! EEEK!
Horrifying, just awful.
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