Next!
Dec 29th 2007
Suzanne EnochMy Life As A Plebe
I had to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles yesterday. Though in California you can renew a driver’s license by mail, apparently every two decades or so they want to see you in person. In addition, I somehow neglected to change my address on my license when I moved. Hey, it’s only been four years, and I’ve…been busy. Yeah. Busy.
I scheduled an appointment via the DMV website. Two o’clock on Friday. On the plus side, hopefully I wouldn’t have to stand in line forever. On the minus side, I had to go to the DMV, I had to find a parking spot at the DMV, and I have one of those crappy winter colds where it feels like your molars are going to shoot out of your head because your sinuses are so congested.
Anyway, I found a parking spot without crushing anyone, I bypassed the two huge lines for people without appointments, and in I went – Window 20. Only two people in front of me. As I walked up to the counter, the clerk asked if I have an appointment, which I do, and if I’m there to renew my license, which I am. Then she tells me that the computers are down, and she can’t help me. They’ve been running VERY slowly for the past two days, and the wait to get license photos is so long they’ll be closing before I could make it to the front of the line.
I ask if I can at least pay my fee and change my address, and come back for the photo later. No, she says, because if they don’t take a photo the file can’t be closed, and it will erase, and they won’t have any record that I paid my check.
So I made another appointment for week after next, made my way back to my car without being crushed, and 
returned home to eat crackers and watch Love Actually. Yes, I’ve finally seen it now.
What’s your least favorite place that you have to go? DMV? The dentist? Jury duty? Does anyone know the secret formula to navigating these places successfully?
32 Comments »
32 Responses to “Next!”
Lisa H on 29 Dec 2007 at 3:38 am #
Suzanne - I hope you feel better soon. I live in a small city so going to the DMV is no big deal.
The Dentist is another story. I loathe the dentist…no matter how much novacaine they shoot me up with, I can still feel them drilling, and the cold water they spray in the hole they drill drives my sensitive teeth wild. I try to force myself to go for a cleaning every year, but Force is the operative word.
Honestly, the last time I had a cavity, the dentist felt so bad, he stopped.
BTW, ever see “The Little Shop of Horrors”? There is a dentist in that movie that sends shivers over my spine.
Haven Rich on 29 Dec 2007 at 8:21 am #
Lisa, it’s really scary because that’s Steve Martin!
I really, really hated the military pharmacy. You had to pull these numbers, wait and wait…and guess what…wait! Then they’d call your number and you finally get up to the counter only to find out that they just ran out of the one IMPORTANT medication you were waiting on. Nice right! Not that it wasn’t life saving or anything.
Then, after signing the paper work to have it mailed to you, which really is nice or you could just take the slip and deal with CVS. You then have to wonder back down the 30 blocks of parking to your car and then fight traffic…never mind that you arrived with the morning traffic and are now facing the evening traffic.
BTW, I’m talking about San Diego’s Military hospital. On the bonus side, I did have a few really great doctors there :D.
Keri Ford on 29 Dec 2007 at 8:56 am #
The health center to get my baby’s immunization shots. (can we find the nearest wall to bang my head on?). my doc doesn’t do them in the office, so you have to go there. And I’m not even ranting about the shot itself, I’m speaking of WAITING to get the shot. They have that ‘take-a-number’ setup, but it needs some revisions. I had to go just before school started and I KNOW I waited there an hour and a half before going back. Appartenly that time and flu-shot season in nov or sometime around then is the busy time. The kicker? Everybody waited in the same line, but in the back where kids get there shots are in a different place from where the infants get theres. WTF did I do all that waiting for????
Karen Rose on 29 Dec 2007 at 9:38 am #
Suzie, hope you feel better soon! I used to hate going for my mammogram, because it HURT. But my imaging center has gotten this new machine and it didn’t hurt at all.
(So y’all go get your mammograms if you haven’t already!!)
Now, I have to say it’s the dentist. I never used to hate the dentist, but about 10 years ago I got a root canal and the Novocaine didn’t take. I’d rather give birth through my tear ducts than go through that again. Shades of Dr. Zell (shudder).
I once read that dentists have the highest suicide rate of all professions. I guess all that negative energy has a really major impact on them, which makes me sad.
I don’t think the DMV people have high suicide rates. They seem to enjoy spreading their own special brand of “good cheer.” Shades of Patty and Selma (shudder).
Feel better, Suzie - and how did you like Love Actually? I’ve never seen it either.
doglady on 29 Dec 2007 at 9:57 am #
I too live in a small town so getting my driver’s license is no big deal. The dentist, however, is another story entirely. Rumor has it there is a new dentist in town who is completely painless, but I’ve been to too many dentists to fall for that. Karen R I am with you on the mammogram. My last one hurt like crap. At this time of year exchanging a Christmas gift is the one line you don’t want to be in. I have to exchange the sweaters and coats my BFF got for two of my dogs because they are a size too small. What could be more insulting than standing in line just to change the sizes on garments for two dogs? Hey, I don’t have kids so she always buys for her doggy nieces and nephews! Thank God she just has cats, in addition to a teenaged son who is easy to please (giftcard!). Cats don’t get clothes - just toys and treats!
Julia London on 29 Dec 2007 at 10:23 am #
The grocery store!!! I live in a fast growing area and the one grocery store isn’t nearly enough to support all the fatties in the area. It doesn’t matter when you go — Monday morning, midnight Thursday, it is always packed. I hate it!
Karen Hawkins on 29 Dec 2007 at 11:27 am #
Julia, they say the best time to go to the grocery store is at ten in the morning. Of course, how anyone could GET there at ten in the morning is beyond me.
DMV is the worst, followed by doctor’s office. Once I sent in for a 9 am appointment, got into the examination room an hour and a half later and then waited another hour for the doctor to zoom in and spend a whole 5 minutes with me to tell me I had walking pneumonia. No freakin’ kidding. Just give me a prescription so I can go and stand in line at the pharmacy for two hours and then FINALLY go home to die in peace.
Hey, Suz, how’d you like LOVE ACTUALLY?????? And how’s the cold?
darkshire007 on 29 Dec 2007 at 11:30 am #
I have to agree with Julia about the grocery store. Keep in mind that I shop at actual grocery stores; WalMart does not count as a grocery store. That is a whole other nightmare by itself! But when people stop right in the middle of the aisle, leave the basket, then double back and stop right in front of me to get something….I want to reach out and slap them. They just walked past that item, why didn’t they stop THEN and get it? Or even worse; the woman with 6 screaming children. Running in the aisles, ramming the carts of other people, screaming/crying or throwing a temper tantrum. Why not leave them at home with hubby or a sitter? Or duct tape them before you bring them in and rope them all together in an orderly fashion? (Not really, but it would be nice if their parents had taught them how to behave in public.) Waiting in line because that item isn’t in the machine. Having only 3 checkers when there are a thousand people in the store. Parking. People in general. Need I say more?
claudia dain on 29 Dec 2007 at 11:31 am #
I hate going to the DMV; isn’t that a universal hatred?
My newest hate and most surprising hate is going to the dentist. I’ve always loved going to the dentist, love getting my teeth cleaned, but my latest dentist always makes me wait. Why??? I’m alone in the waiting room. I have an appointment.
One time, the dentist’s ‘booking agent’ called me because they had a cancellation and asked if I could be there in 10 minutes. I said I could make it in 15. They weren’t sure…that might be too long…they needed me in 10. I made it in 11.
I waited in that waiting room for 40 minutes.
Feel better, Suzie! I’m just on the other side of my Christmas Sickness, so I feel your pain. Cold-Eze helped me a lot.
Julia London on 29 Dec 2007 at 11:40 am #
Suzie, I swear by the zicam cold tablets. Of course it might be a little late for you now, but I have tried them twice when I feel myself coming down with a cold, and they worked! no cold to speak of!
FreshEChelle on 29 Dec 2007 at 11:46 am #
I’m reluctant to share that none of these three choices make me crazy.
My dentists are a husband and wife team who are so much cool that I love visiting them. They never make me wait more than 10 minutes and they help me avoid the painful type of dentistry. Unlike the gyno, they never make me strip and put my feet in stirrups so they’re aces to me.
The DMV, I rarely have to go and I go expecting the worst so I’m pleasantly surprised. I always bring a good book so I can tune out the freaks and dunces on line.
Jury Duty, 6 hours only marginally interrupted to read a good book. It’s a day I don’t have to sit in an airport with cramps and a migraine waiting out yet another Newark or O’Hare marathon delay.
That’s said, Claudia & Karen - your dentist/doctor stories are infurtiating!!!!! I spend that time calculating my dollar value of my time and imagine myself submitting the dr. a bill for my time.
ladydawgfan on 29 Dec 2007 at 11:57 am #
That’s said, Claudia & Karen - your dentist/doctor stories are infurtiating!!!!! I spend that time calculating my dollar value of my time and imagine myself submitting the dr. a bill for my time.
I understand that someone actually did that once and the doctor was made to pay him (they had overbooked the appointments)!!! Hmmm, might be worth trying . . .
I’ve had a fear of dentists since I was 12 and had to have a baby tooth pulled. The dentist numbed the wrong tooth, I felt the whole extraction, and when I tried to tell him, he told me not to be such a baby about it! Now, even as an adult, I have to be dragged kicking and screaming just to get a cleaning. Something I have had a HARD time getting over.
Lisa H on 29 Dec 2007 at 11:59 am #
One place most people hate to go but I love is the Post Office.
We have the two nicest people who work in our local PO. Pete and Peggy. They are ALWAYS smiling, laughing and calling you by name when you stop in. I like Pete so much, I told him if I ever write a contemporary, I will include him in the novel!
It is amazing what nice people can do for a boring errand.
FreshEChelle on 29 Dec 2007 at 12:01 pm #
ladydawgfan - cool!! Power to the people.
Kim on 29 Dec 2007 at 12:31 pm #
Okay, I hate the DMV so much just reading this blog made my blood pressure rise. I hate them so bad that my husband takes care of everything he possibly can because he knows if I set foot in that building he’s going to have to listen to me b!tch for at least 3 days. No, I’m not joking! One time, we had just bought a new car. We stopped in the DMV, showed them all our paperwork and asked how much it would be to title and plate the car. We got it all written out how much to expect. When we go back a week later they tell us its $60 more! When I showed them the paper we had from before they just shrugged and said this was how much we owed. That’s the point where I blacked out *g*
Dentist? Nope! Its been 20 years since I’ve been. The day I got my braces off was the last time I ever saw one. Those guys are just sadists in a white coat.
Suzanne–Ask your DR for an RX of Entex PSE. It dries up your sinus’s and relieves the pressure of the headache wonderfully.
Kim on 29 Dec 2007 at 12:33 pm #
cont…
The Entex works for my sinus headaches better than any pain pill, even darvocet. Oh, and there’s a generic that’s on Wal-marts cheap Rx plan. I thinkI got 30 pills for $6 last time.
Did you not love Love Actually?!?! Its one of my favorites. KarenR you need to watch it!
Suzanne Enoch on 29 Dec 2007 at 12:39 pm #
Thanks for the good wishes about the cold — if I didn’t need to breathe, I’d be fine. And I enjoyed “Love Actually” — I liked seeing how all the characters intersected.
It’s the lines, isn’t it? There’s nothing worse than going to a place you’d rather not be and then having to wait to do the thing you’d rather not do.
And may I say that the dentist stories are giving me the shivers? Ye gads.
Judy F on 29 Dec 2007 at 1:20 pm #
I used to hate hate the dentist. When I was little the dentist we were going to smacked me cause he said I wasn’t opening my mouth far enough. After I told my parents we found a new dentist. I love the dentist I have now, he is a trip, very tall and skinny but has the bestest chair side manner. Its like going to see a friend twice a year. (helps too that he went to college with my closest friend)
I am not fond of the grocery store. I went last sat at 7 am only cause they were predicting this huge storm and I was out of just about everything. It was great, hardly anyone in the store, I was zipping down rows. Only had to move around the staff restocking things. Don’t know how often I will do the 7am thing but it was well worth it.
I have been on jury duty a couple of times. Its really good for getting some reading done.
claudia dain on 29 Dec 2007 at 1:36 pm #
I have to say that I hate going to the grocery store, but only because I find anything to do with food excessively boring. There are so many grocery stores where I live, at least one at every intersection, that it’s never crowded and rarely a line of more than one person in front of you. With all the competition for shoppers, the people who work in the grocery are always super friendly, welcoming you in almost in a WalMart style.
Julia, what’s wrong with your high growth area? Haven’t the supermarkets figured out where the money is?
Buffie on 29 Dec 2007 at 2:29 pm #
Suzie — sorry to hear about the mess with the DMV, but that is how they run their business, isn’t it? Don’t ya just hate how they do things!!!
As for the grocery store — I usually go there on Thursdays after dropping the kids off at school, which means I’m there no later than 8:30 a.m. and no one else is there — it’s great!
Anyway — what did you like of Love Actually? I really like the movie — in fact I watched it again a couple days ago. I love the scene towards the end at the school program.
Suzanne Enoch on 29 Dec 2007 at 4:03 pm #
Kim, I’d love to try Entex PSE, but going to the doctor is another one of those trips I really don’t like. Especially when I already have a regular appointment in 2 weeks.
I actually like going to the grocery store, until check-out. That’s when I’ll see that the lady in front of me has vegetables and rare cuts of meat and exotic spices, while I have frozen dinners and Oreos.
Aspen on 29 Dec 2007 at 4:25 pm #
I just caught your cold or someones anyway. I am 98% sure it was the sick man inline in front of me at costco. The one with the hankey permanently affixed to his face? Anyway the guy drops his change (mostly of the 1cent variety) He looks forelornly at them scattered about the floor. I pick them up. He counts.
Good grief! I missed a dime.
Needless to say, sniffle, sniffle, No good deed goes unpunished.
Best wishes on your speedy recovery to wellness
Aspen
Sabrina Jeffries on 29 Dec 2007 at 4:57 pm #
The only thing I mind about going to any of these places is that they take time out of my busy life and they’re somewhat boring. In themselves, they don’t bother me. I always take a book.
I do have a confession to make–I’ve never had jury duty. I haven’t even been called up since I moved to North Carolina (do we not have any crime?). I would kind of like to try it. But not while I’m on deadline.
I got called up a couple of times in New Orleans, but at that time, I had an autistic child and no care other than me during the day, so I was able to sign the form saying I was the prime caregiver for a child. Thankfully, they don’t make you get a babysitter for jury duty.
Oh, and I swear by Zicam. It is my lifesaver.
Julia London on 29 Dec 2007 at 5:18 pm #
Sabrina, we are closing in on being the same person. Read stacks of PWs over the holidays, swear by zicam…and I have never been called to jury duty, either, in spite of being a registered voter my entire life.
Karen Rose on 29 Dec 2007 at 5:24 pm #
I got called for jury duty once. Two long weeks of my life gone. I was an engineer at the time, and every time I told the lawyers my occupation during voire dire, they booted me. I think they thought I was an automoton, unswayed by argument. Sniff. That I had no heart.
I used my down time to work on my romance novel. Never did serve on a single jury.
I don’t mind the grocery store, but I always come out with M&Ms and other assorted snacks. I normally throw a container of cottage cheese in the cart just to camoflauge the good stuff. DH does the shopping or we’d all end up with scurvy.
Karen Rose on 29 Dec 2007 at 5:26 pm #
PS - Suzie, I’d love to know what that line is to, in the picture. What are all those people waiting for?
evlqn on 29 Dec 2007 at 6:41 pm #
I really hate the lines at Social Security. I doesn’t matter when you show up, appointment or not, you will wait forever. I have a theory, they hope you will just go over in the corner and drop dead before your turn.
Checkout lines at the grocery store are a pet hate also, thankfully I never go anywhere without my book. I even have a backup book in the car, in case I finish the one I’m reading.
Whenever we feel a cold coming on we break out the cinnamon. Cinnamon is a natural antitbiotic. We put it in our cooking, on our toast, and on the back burner in simmering water.
Years ago my sister actually billed her doctor for her time, she never had to wait in his outer office again.
Suzanne Enoch on 29 Dec 2007 at 7:22 pm #
KarenR, I don’t know what the line in the photo is for. I just googled “waiting in line photos” and it came up. Except that it ends in a tent, it looks like some of the Star Wars premiere lines I’ve waited in. Hey, that’s one line I don’t mind. *g*
Ann in IL on 29 Dec 2007 at 7:24 pm #
DMV - not a problem here.
Grocery store - I shop at my Super Center between 6 and 7am. Not any problems wauting in line then.
Dr office - I can honestly say that in the 11 years I have been going to this Dr I have NEVER had to wait any longer than it takes to hang up my coat. They are always ready for me. Even if I call and ask to be seen that day - I always get in. She is terrific. And her staff is top notch.
Dentists - there aint enough money in the world to get me back in a chair.
A medication for a rare disorder caused 5 - count’em FIVE - teeth to abscess at one time. The dentist said I would need root canals on all five to the tune of $2000.00 EACH. AND they could not say whether or not they would take because of the medical condition. I had them pulled and use a partial now. Well, sometimes I use the partial. It won’t stay put when I try to eat. Multiple adjustments and the @#$ thing still doesn’t stay put. Nope. No more dentists.
Kerri on 30 Dec 2007 at 9:42 am #
My fun DMV story: I normally renew our registrations through the mail. At the same time, Indiana decided to upgrade their DMV computers. The upgrade ended up taking all year. I sent in the registrations in plenty of time before they were set to expire. The day before they expired, I get some badly photocopied letter from them saying that the computers still weren’t working, and that I would have to come in person to do the registrations. This was after my check cleared. Also, my husband, who travels constantly on business, would have to come in person, as well. I called to complain and heard three different stories - like I could wait, and MAYBE the computers would get fixed. In the meantime, they sent us photocopied passes to hang in our windows extending our expiration dates. I was pissed! I decided to write a letter to the governor, explaining the situation and how stupid it was. The next day, I got a personal phone call from the governor’s office, telling me that I
Kerri on 30 Dec 2007 at 9:44 am #
(cont) would be taken care of. The head of the county DMV called me, apologized, then came over to my house to get all my information. She then drove to the DMV herself, processed the registration, and drove back to my house with the new stickers for the license plates and new registrations. I’ve never been so proud of myself!
Aemelia on 01 Jan 2008 at 9:03 pm #
oh man, where did you get the sample WI drivers license? I click on it just for the heck of it, well, I’m from WI so I just wanted to see what info was on that…so when I saw the address listed as Black River Falls, I started laughing, BRF (called BaRF by local non-residents) is the next town over from where I grew up! and the town my mother and sister currently work! what are the chances!
oh by the way, I caught your cold….blech