Next Please

Since I'm only a visitor to the US, I don't have to go through the long drawn out struggles my Mom has been going through to get her social security number, ID card that allows her to work and today, finally after six months, her driver's license. It was exactly like the DMV in Halifax, but the downtrodden expressions on those waiting and constant scream of crying children reminded me of the day I spent queuing to get my ID card in Dublin. The waiting room was full of people from almost every country in the world. It was literally a who's who of cultures. I'd been warned about the wait, but didn't count on it taking seven hours. I think my friends Sarah and Loren actually slept outside the building overnight to get their IDs! When I got my ticket, the numbers being called were in the 100s and mine was in the 500s. I took off, sat in an Internet cafe for an hour or so, did some window shopping and had lunch at McDonalds. I met a girl at McDs who was also waiting to apply for her card. We had the same name, which was weird, but she was in Ireland for a term at the University of College Dublin whereas I was there to work. Much later in the day when my number was finally called, I'd been blown about since it was yet another blustery day so my photo is to say the least, less attractive than I would have hoped. However, the entire application process took about five minutes, leaving me to make my way to the nearby DART station and wonder where my day went. Mom thought she had everything she needed in the way of paperwork today, but it wasn't until she got to the counter that she was informed she was missing one last crucial piece of documentation which we had to go home to collect. Good times. And if you haven't been in a while, the DMV is still the "happiest place on earth". Take that Disneyland.