Another Reason to Leave Memphis...
We went to get Lacey's driver's license today. It took 3 plus hours for her to take a 10 minute "knowledge" test on a dumb computer. Once she passed the test, we had to call an 888 number to make an appointment for her to take the "road test". That's now scheduled for Thursday morning.
I've been licensed in three states...Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. In those states, you walked in, took the test and walked out with a license in less than 30 minutes.
Waiting in line is a Memphis thing. When I moved here and needed to turn on electricity, I sat for 2-3 hours at the power company. There is no calling and telling them to turn on the power and send me a bill. That sort of thing is reserved for Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
I got tickets two years in a row for not renewing my car tag in a timely manner. They don't mail those things like in other states. In the previous states, you got a thing in the mail, you wrote a check and mailed it back and you got your little decals returned ... in the mail. Here you go to an inspection station, sit in line in your car for 1-2 hours to be inspected for free and get your computer print out saying your car is ok. Then you go to another "driver station" to stand in line for 1-2 hours to pay the $80 for the decals. Then and only then can you go downtown to the JAIL to stand in line for 1-2 hours to go into a COURTROOM for a clerk to lay eyes on the receipt for the decals and the ticket disappears ... for free -- no fee involved.
Of course, you can renew your license on line...if you've never had a ticket, if your license picture is less than 12 years old, if you have computer access and a credit or debit card and if the sight isn't down. You can go to a driver license station like the one Lacey and I went to this morning, to renew online. I watched 11 people attempt this over 2 hours. NO ONE was successful.
Now let's consider people with jobs that aren't on vacation. How in the hell is anyone expected to keep a job doing all this crap??? It's impossible to complete any of this crap in one day. It's always over multiple days...no matter what you do...no matter if you have all the appropriate information. So when one of my employees gets a ticket, buys a car, changes residence...boom, at least 2 days off work. And in the case of my place of business, there is rarely anyone to replace the employee that has to be off.
Memphis needs some rewiring. Something needs to be done. But you know, once we get the driver's license for Lacey, then new tags for my car...also due this month, and tags for Lacey's car we won't have to deal with this Memphis driver station crap ever again. Surely to God, Washington State is more organized and customer friendly. Someone tell me it is, please. Lie to me if necessary.
I've been licensed in three states...Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. In those states, you walked in, took the test and walked out with a license in less than 30 minutes.
Waiting in line is a Memphis thing. When I moved here and needed to turn on electricity, I sat for 2-3 hours at the power company. There is no calling and telling them to turn on the power and send me a bill. That sort of thing is reserved for Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
I got tickets two years in a row for not renewing my car tag in a timely manner. They don't mail those things like in other states. In the previous states, you got a thing in the mail, you wrote a check and mailed it back and you got your little decals returned ... in the mail. Here you go to an inspection station, sit in line in your car for 1-2 hours to be inspected for free and get your computer print out saying your car is ok. Then you go to another "driver station" to stand in line for 1-2 hours to pay the $80 for the decals. Then and only then can you go downtown to the JAIL to stand in line for 1-2 hours to go into a COURTROOM for a clerk to lay eyes on the receipt for the decals and the ticket disappears ... for free -- no fee involved.
Of course, you can renew your license on line...if you've never had a ticket, if your license picture is less than 12 years old, if you have computer access and a credit or debit card and if the sight isn't down. You can go to a driver license station like the one Lacey and I went to this morning, to renew online. I watched 11 people attempt this over 2 hours. NO ONE was successful.
Now let's consider people with jobs that aren't on vacation. How in the hell is anyone expected to keep a job doing all this crap??? It's impossible to complete any of this crap in one day. It's always over multiple days...no matter what you do...no matter if you have all the appropriate information. So when one of my employees gets a ticket, buys a car, changes residence...boom, at least 2 days off work. And in the case of my place of business, there is rarely anyone to replace the employee that has to be off.
Memphis needs some rewiring. Something needs to be done. But you know, once we get the driver's license for Lacey, then new tags for my car...also due this month, and tags for Lacey's car we won't have to deal with this Memphis driver station crap ever again. Surely to God, Washington State is more organized and customer friendly. Someone tell me it is, please. Lie to me if necessary.