DMV, and dil kya kare

It had been my belief that all government offices are equally inefficient, no matter what country, and that belief was fueled again this week. We made an early morning appointment with the San Mateo DMV for Radhika's written driving test. We reached there 15 minutes early...surprised to find a queue... for all. Even people without appointment were in the same queue. Wola!

Well, as if that was'nt enough, on our turn the lady at the counter (who was looking very down and mean for a morning shift) blurted right away without even looking at the documents - "you will need a valid visa status to apply for a license". I frowned, and pointed to the visa approval letter in her hands. She looked at it, and went "Ohhhh. Ok." A minute later, she comes back "But this expires within a year. You cant apply on that basis.".

My first reaction was 'Come on lady'!!! (of course I didnt say that out loud..can you imagine, if I did that?:-) I pointed to the next approval letter. There it was..beyond 2010!

Well she did'nt look too happy to be proved wrong. But wait, she still had more in her stupid arsenal: "You need a SSN number to get a license!". I was like, my wife is on a dependent visa. She is not allowed to work yet. You cant get a SSN without work authorization. Does that mean she cannot drive in this country?? I dont want to stay here if thats the case!

She turns to someone senior on the next desk..of course she was wrong. They took our documents, and Radhika gave the test.

What do you have to do to get something done the right way here? Phew!!!

BTW, dil kya kare is online: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7794976572130763260

Enjoy!