Opinion column: Vacationing at the Division of Vehicles

Some people say I never take a vacation. That’s not true. For example, today I was vacationing at the Kansas Division of Vehicles.

Every six years or so, I visit their office to get my driver’s license renewed sometime before my birthday. Around two days ago, I looked up the schedule of the driver’s license station. It said the office at 63rd and Parallel Parkway, the only office in Wyandotte County, is open from 7 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

So my husband and I went to get our drivers’ licenses renewed after work about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. We walked into the office, saw a lot of people in the waiting room, saw a sign that said numbers were not being given out because of the number of people in line, and walked out again.

It was clear that it would take more than an hour at the driver’s license station. Even though his workday starts and ends earlier than most people, my husband took a half-day of vacation on Thursday in order to get his driver’s license renewed.

As I was getting ready to leave today for the driver’s license station, a state senator called and I said I couldn’t talk because I had to go get my driver’s license. He was interested, suggested writing about the experience and said maybe I should call my state representative, which I found pretty funny.

When we checked the driver’s license information online, we saw that seven driver’s license stations in Kansas offer online waiting service, where you can check in to see what the waiting time will be, including Andover, Derby, Manhattan, Mission, Olathe, Topeka and Wichita – but not Kansas City, Kan.

In this era of “Can you prove who you are?” I made sure I brought along my current driver’s license, my yellow renewal postcard that came in the mail, and just in case, a bank statement with my name on it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to bring out the bank statement for proof of who I am. I used to know a few people who worked at the driver’s license station and knew who I was, but those days apparently are long gone.

Arriving at about 11:10 a.m. Thursday at the driver’s license station, we took a number and sat down to wait. I was number 67, and when we came in, they were on number 34. There weren’t many chairs left. A few people spilled outside of the station, waiting around, one sprawled on a bench.

I estimated about 45 people waiting in the beige plastic stackable chairs in the waiting room, with some standing up and a few sitting on the floor. Some were kids along with parents, or spouses who were there with the driver applicant. People were walking in, looking around and leaving. During our time there, about 20 people walked in, then walked out without getting their license, because they didn’t want to wait.

Like other vacationers, I sat around a long time waiting. I was pretty bored waiting in a room full of strangers. I was so bored that I took out my cell phone. I took some photos, and I read two magazines that I had brought.

Some people who were waiting were swapping stories about how their old cars were running, were talking about how awful temporary jobs are, and were making a comparative analysis of local jails, talking about the quality of the toilet paper. Others were chasing after kids. Many were looking down at their cell phones or tablets, trying to play a game or check a message. Some were staring off into space. My husband fell asleep for a while.

Lunch time came and went. A few workers left for lunch and a couple of others kept on working. I realized then that a person with a basketful of sandwiches could have made some money by just walking through the waiting room, offering them for sale. No longer was there a fast-food restaurant in the shopping center as there had been years ago.

By noon, they had reached number 47 — still 20 numbers away from me. I estimated they were going about 10 per hour. By 12:30 p.m., they were up to number 53. By 12:40 p.m., they hit number 57. They were going faster – was it because some of the people waiting in the chairs had got up and left?

Finally, my number was called around 1:05 p.m. The crowd had thinned to about half of what it was earlier. The driver’s license employee was very nice and remarked that I smiled for my picture even though I had to wait about two hours. It took about five or 10 minutes to actually complete the paperwork, take the driver’s license photo and pay the license fee. Another ordeal was over, at least for six years.

To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email [email protected].