Building a More Secure America One License Branch at a Time
So---
Mom went out to DeFouw Chevrolet yesterday to collect all her stuff out of the Buick so they could send it somewhere to be turned into parts. The people in the body shop there said the damage was set at $6000 (both passenger side doors were demolished) and that the insurance company was declaring it totalled. Mom was talking about this stuff with shop guy when a woman sales rep asked her if she'd liked the car she'd had. Mom said she had and the sales rep told her they had one just like it on the lot--same color and everything, but a 2005 model year. Mom thought it looked great, so Rob and I planned to go out and look it over today with Mom and Dad and make a decision on it.
Before we left on this expedition Mom expressed concern that she didn't have her driver's license. (It seems to have been misplaced by the law enforcement officials in the confusion of her accident scene). She'd been told by the police not to worry, that the BMV would issue her a copy of her license for $5. So we decided to run by and do that quickly before the car shopping. Did I say quickly? Silly me!
When we arrived at the License Branch, the reception clerk asked Mom if she had her birth certificate with her. No birth certificate? How about a passport? Thanks to new post-9/11 security rules you pretty much can't get a license (or even a copy of one) in Indiana without showing one of those things, plus two other forms of ID from another list. Mom thought she didn't even have a birth certificate at home, so they provided us with the number of a registry in Missouri where they would send her one by mail in, oh, probably a week or so. Pretty much whenever they got around to it.
Mom was really steamed, so as we left the License Branch she said she charged right over to the police station across the street to see if they could do anything for her (and possibly to vent). We waited half an hour or so to see the officer who was on the scene. When she finally appeared she said she would go with Mom back to License Branch and see if she could get anywhere with them. (I thought it might be helpful that the officer was fully armed. If she wouldn't use her weapons, I was confident mom would.) Anyway, the officer told the BMV folks it was her fault Mom didn't have her license, that she'd been through a lot already, and implored them to waive the birth certificate requirement. Finally the supervisor caved. Having a police escort did not, however, move Mom to the front of the queue and Mom began what turned out to be a two-hour wait for the license to be made up.
She stayed and waited (and waited) while Rob and Dad and I went over to DeFouw to look over the car. The sales woman backed it out and gave us the keys for a test drive. We headed back to the BMV so that Mom could drive it. She was still waiting. Finally we asked where she was in the queue and were told she was next (Rob and I are credited as the intimidating muscle that got this done.) Half an hour later we were finished, she was driving the car back towards Myrtle Drive. She seemed satisfied, Dad seemed satisfied. They stayed home while Rob and I drove it back to DeFouw and had them put it down as sold.
All that remains (in theory) is for us to hear from the insurance company about how much they'll get for the wrecked Buick and then to write a check for the difference. If that doesn't happen tomorrow Mom just needs to make a deposit to continue holding the car. Hopefully, we're in the endgame here, but I'm not assuming anything.
I know you all will rest easier tonight knowing that the vigilant civil servants at the Indiana BMV are preventing 81-year-old terrorists from turning their Buicks into car bombs and incinerating the mall. Take that, Al Qaida!
Mom went out to DeFouw Chevrolet yesterday to collect all her stuff out of the Buick so they could send it somewhere to be turned into parts. The people in the body shop there said the damage was set at $6000 (both passenger side doors were demolished) and that the insurance company was declaring it totalled. Mom was talking about this stuff with shop guy when a woman sales rep asked her if she'd liked the car she'd had. Mom said she had and the sales rep told her they had one just like it on the lot--same color and everything, but a 2005 model year. Mom thought it looked great, so Rob and I planned to go out and look it over today with Mom and Dad and make a decision on it.
Before we left on this expedition Mom expressed concern that she didn't have her driver's license. (It seems to have been misplaced by the law enforcement officials in the confusion of her accident scene). She'd been told by the police not to worry, that the BMV would issue her a copy of her license for $5. So we decided to run by and do that quickly before the car shopping. Did I say quickly? Silly me!
When we arrived at the License Branch, the reception clerk asked Mom if she had her birth certificate with her. No birth certificate? How about a passport? Thanks to new post-9/11 security rules you pretty much can't get a license (or even a copy of one) in Indiana without showing one of those things, plus two other forms of ID from another list. Mom thought she didn't even have a birth certificate at home, so they provided us with the number of a registry in Missouri where they would send her one by mail in, oh, probably a week or so. Pretty much whenever they got around to it.
Mom was really steamed, so as we left the License Branch she said she charged right over to the police station across the street to see if they could do anything for her (and possibly to vent). We waited half an hour or so to see the officer who was on the scene. When she finally appeared she said she would go with Mom back to License Branch and see if she could get anywhere with them. (I thought it might be helpful that the officer was fully armed. If she wouldn't use her weapons, I was confident mom would.) Anyway, the officer told the BMV folks it was her fault Mom didn't have her license, that she'd been through a lot already, and implored them to waive the birth certificate requirement. Finally the supervisor caved. Having a police escort did not, however, move Mom to the front of the queue and Mom began what turned out to be a two-hour wait for the license to be made up.
She stayed and waited (and waited) while Rob and Dad and I went over to DeFouw to look over the car. The sales woman backed it out and gave us the keys for a test drive. We headed back to the BMV so that Mom could drive it. She was still waiting. Finally we asked where she was in the queue and were told she was next (Rob and I are credited as the intimidating muscle that got this done.) Half an hour later we were finished, she was driving the car back towards Myrtle Drive. She seemed satisfied, Dad seemed satisfied. They stayed home while Rob and I drove it back to DeFouw and had them put it down as sold.
All that remains (in theory) is for us to hear from the insurance company about how much they'll get for the wrecked Buick and then to write a check for the difference. If that doesn't happen tomorrow Mom just needs to make a deposit to continue holding the car. Hopefully, we're in the endgame here, but I'm not assuming anything.
I know you all will rest easier tonight knowing that the vigilant civil servants at the Indiana BMV are preventing 81-year-old terrorists from turning their Buicks into car bombs and incinerating the mall. Take that, Al Qaida!
posted by Webmaster at 8:32 PM
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