Hassled, but Successful at the BMV

Our auto insurance coverage was destined to increase if I did not secure a current Indiana driver's license before the end of this month. At my first trip to the BMV, I was told that I didn't have sufficient documentation and that I had to provide an actual Social Security card. Due to my pack-rat nature (I'm doubting this is mentioned as a benefit in the A Perfect Mess book), I had lost my SS card. We can be quite sure that I didn't throw it out. Unfortunately, we can't be quite sure where, in my perfect mess, I put it.

My new SS card arrived this week (just one week after my 10 minute visit to the IL Social Security Office). Friday is the only day when the BMV is open and my husband is home to stay with the little boys. I put YS down for his afternoon nap and MS down for quiet time and headed to the dreaded BMV. I entered with a shoulder bag full of documentation (birth certificate, copy of a Target credit card bill, copy of my Target credit card pin number, marriage license, expired passport, and SS card - I left the SS yearly statement at home, since it was deemed "insufficient evidence of my existence and personhood.")

I entered with a hopeful, but skeptical, view. There were only two customers in front of me (three actual people, but the man directly in front of me had brought along a translator since he only spoke Spanish). Was I surprised when the clerk stepped away from the desk numerous times to confer with other workers while assisting the man in front of me? No! Was I surprised when I received the same reaction? Yes, despite having braced for this.

I handed her my documentation as she asked for it. When I presented the credit card bill, she stated that they could not use that because although my name is on the document, my address is not. I explained that every credit card we own is in my husband's name, except for this one Target account. However, my husband pays our bills on-line, so bills don't generally come to our home address. At this point, I displayed the pin number confirmation letter, which clearly bore my address and matched my credit card number and credit card name. (My husband even works for a bank, yet we don't receive bank statements by mail, so I couldn't provide this when they suggested it.) I think the clerk went into the back room and huddled with other BMV bureaucrats two or three times before finally returning with a clearly disgruntled manner, begrudgingly admitting that they would accept my documents.

I took the written exam (can you believe with two toddlers who have loved trains, I missed the question of what a circular sign stands for - I kept looking at the blank circle and thinking, "but railroad signs have the criss-cross on them." At home, my hubby reminded me of a song on one of the "I Love Toy Trains" videos, which says, "when you're out and about in your mom and dad's car and you see the round sign with the R and R ..." Oh yeah!!!) and passed it. I took the vision exam (very worried here, since I have been having some difficulty with reading fine print lately and sometimes reading gives me a headache or blurred vision - horrid symptoms for a reader) and passed it. I took a typically dreadful picture (my husband says you can tell what I think of the BMV). An hour and a half after entering, I left the BMV with my IN license.

Hallelujah! I am done with the BMV until I have to renew the license in 2013. If for some reason we have to get new plates or something, I'm sending my hubby.