The Department of Public Safety and Me

I consider myself a law abiding citizen who has never intentionally broken any laws, so you can imagine my surprise when I attempted to renew my Alabama drivers license to learn they were suspended.

What?!  
When?!
Why?!

The nice clerk at the Court House asked me if I had any unpaid traffic tickets?  I said not to my knowledge.  She  informed me I would have to go the local Department of Public Safety office for answers/reinstatement before they could renew my license. I said OK, do you know what time they close?   She replied they closed at 5:00 PM.  The clock on the wall in the court house read 4:15 PM.  The DVM is about 5-8 minutes away, so off I go.

I arrive in the parking lot at the Department of Public Safety at exactly 4:25 PM.  There are three cars in lot including mine.  The sign on the outside of door says the hours are  Monday-Friday 7:30 AM until 5:00 PM, except holidays.  Inside there are two young women waiting,  a boy and his father being served,  and 5 female employees.  I explain to the woman sitting behind the desk I need to reinstate my drivers license and she handed me a piece of paper told me to fill it out and bring it back tomorrow morning because they "stop working at 4:30 PM because they had to get ready to leave at 5:00 PM".


Excuse Me?
The sign on the door says you don't close until 5:00 PM?
They told me at the court house you closed at 5:00 PM?
How can you stop processing request 30 minutes prior to closing?
Why do I have to come back when I'm here now?
What if I can't come back tomorrow at 7:30?

Answer, and I quote- You don't think we can close at 5 and leave at 5 do you?  We have to set the alarm and lock up the building.  There is a sign on the inside of the building that says we stop processing Drivers License at 4:30.

So know we know.  Although they are being paid to work until to 5 PM they stop working 30 minutes early at the local DPS office. I could see if there were a line to be processed stopping people from getting in line at 4:30, but the office had more employees than customers. Our tax dollars at work.  On us.

I proceeded to use my cell phone to take a picture of the clock on the wall to document the time but was informed I didn't have permission to take their picture and I could be sued.

Oh really?  
Please sue me for taking pictures!


 I explained I wasn't taking their picture, I was taking a picture of the clock but since they had on official State Trooper Uniforms I acquiesced.


RedEye Roll

At approximately 4:29 PM I placed a call to the State Department of Motor Vehicles in Montgomery.  I explained to the nice lady who answered the phone my drivers license had been suspended and I wanted to know why and to reinstate them if necessary.

Did she tell me to call back tomorrow because they stopped processing request at 4:30 PM because they had to get ready to close the office at 5:00 PM?  Nope.  She asked for my DL number and the last four of my SS#.  I gave them to her and learned my license were suspended because I didn't respond to a random request for proof of insurance I never received, because it went to my old address, and they do not forward.  I was told when I presented proof of insurance my DL would be reinstated immediately.   Thankfully I don't have to return to the local Department of Public Safety.  I'm pretty sure I'm on their sh#t list.

Let's play What If and What About?

What if I had been stopped by police, or involved in an accident and discovered my license were suspended?

What if I needed a valid Drivers License to board an air plane for work or an emergency?

What if I needed a valid Drivers License to register to VOTE?

What if I couldn't come back to my local DPS the following day?

What about the time and resources already spent?

What about the people who work from 7:30 AM until 5:00 PM M-F?

Why is it so hard for tax payers to get basic services?

I wonder if I had been a white male/female tax payer would I have been told by the female African American Alabama State Employee to come back tomorrow because they stopped processing 30 minutes prior to closing?

The reason I'm asking is because the two young women waiting to be served, and the boy and his father being served  where white,  3 of the 5 State employees were African Americans, with the two African Americans doing the fussing, I mean talking.

Wondering why we are required to have proof of liability insurance to have a Drivers License but not required to have proof of health insurance if we get sick and have to go to the Doctor/Hospital.  Oh wait....


If it's this hard to get my drivers license renewed I wonder how hard it's going to be for tax payers to obtain a state issued Voter ID card?  


RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer to go have my license renewed.