Misery loves the BMV

I'm just going to say it: going to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles can be a nightmare.

I don't know why, but every person that works at the BMV seems to hate their life. And because of that hate, they make your visit miserable. Nobody smiles in the BMV. You take your number, wait for your turn, and pray that you brought the 5 forms of ID that they require. Oh, you wanted to pay by credit card? Sorry. No license for you. Did you spend time this morning trying to look nice for the photo? Forget it. You're going to look like a deer caught in headlights no matter how you do your makeup. The best thing you can hope for is to leave in a mildly bad mood. At least then there might be a chance of your day improving. It helps if you have something fun to do after you leave.

I can't completely blame the workers. But it would be nice if they had some customer service skills. Is a smile too much to ask for?

Anyhow, this morning I went to the BMV with Jared so he could renew his tags. We went early, in hopes that the workers there might not be quite as jaded first thing in the morning. We made sure he had his checkbook (they do take personal checks as payment) and 2 forms of ID. Luckily, we didn't have to wait, and he had everything he needed with him. Sure, the lady that helped us had a scowl on her face the whole time, but it was a quick and painless process.

We walked out into the parking lot, and turned to look at each other. "That was the least miserable BMV experience I've ever had," I said. Jared agreed. We finished the morning by going to First Watch for breakfast, which was deliciously awesome.

Until next time, BMV...

1 comments:

luckeyfrog responded on 4/26/2008 5:56 PM #

In my hometown, the BMV used to be a miserably tiny downtown building with the worst parking in the world. We used to joke that finding a space in their lot and getting into it were practically a driving test in and of themselves.

Recently, Indiana decided to drastically improve their BMV's, and as part of that, Kokomo got a new building. It's big, decorated, and organized. There's plenty of space to park, plenty of space to wait, and most of the people actually seem nice! You also don't have to wait ten years! I went in a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday, less than half an hour before they closed, and STILL was amazed at the difference.

So, there is hope. :)