No, You May Not See My License.

Yesterday I looked down at my driver's license, and much to my chagrin - it was expired. Apparently, I missed the reminder they send out.

Like most good US citizens, I despise going to the DMV. The majority of employees that I have dealt with there have been very rude, no matter how nice I am to them in return. I know, I know. They deal with difficult people all the time and I would not want that job for all the money in the world. Well, maybe all the money.

This morning, there were two DMV employees and about 10 people in front of me in the line for license renewals. It could be worse, right?

Absolutely.

After I passed the sign/vision test (By the way, the yellow "sideways" triangle with no words - tricky, tricky. It wasn't in the poster that I had plenty of time to stare at during my wait.), the employee looked up at me. "That will be $32."

$32? Since when? The last renewal that I did was $10. Guess how much cash I had on me! $28. And of course, I don't carry a checkbook.

I gave the lady my best deer-in-headlights look. She told me to just go down the street to the ATM and come right back. Great.

I came back to the store with my cash in hand. And she had no change.

After interviewing all the people waiting not-so-patiently in line and finally getting me my change, she instructed me to sit down and look at the light.

I did just as I was told. As a result, I saw a spot in the shape of the light for the next three hours.

And my picture is horrible. I don't smile in pictures like that. I don't want to. My smile ends up looking all crooked, and I would rather just have a pleasant look on my face. But no, that was not acceptable. I had to stare at the blinding light until I cracked a smile.

Now I'm stuck with that picture until 2016. At least I won't have to go back to the DMV for a renewal until then.