Senior Connections SeniorConnections_JanFeb20 | Page 5

Driver’s license renewal fiasco SUBMITTED BY A LOCAL RESIDENT I am an 80-year-old lady who has been driving for 62 years, and stopped in at the driver’s license department to renew my driver’s license. They informed me the photo machine was not operating, and I should come back at another time (hours, days, weeks?). I returned a week later. They asked if I wanted the Standard, Real ID, or Enhanced license. I asked what the differences are. I was handed a seven-page sheet to read and decide. I took it home. The seven pages telling me the difference were confusing; only how to go about filling out each option. Other proofs I needed listed on the seven sheets included: 1. Proof of date of birth (one document from list A), seven choices. 2. Proof of full legal name (one document from list B), 23 choices. 3. Proof of original Social Security card (one document from list C), five choices. 4. Proof of photographic number (one document from list D), 10 choices. 5. Proof of United States citizenship (one document from list E), five choices. 6. Proof of Minnesota residency (two documents from list F), 20 choices. 7. Last unpaid utility bill, or other unpaid bills with only my name and address. I was also given a yellow information sheet with about 20 questions to bring in next time. There were no obvious answers to questions going through my mind, which would seem important in obtaining a license renewal. Can I travel to Canada or Mexico? Board a plane? Travel to a foreign country? Do I walk with a walker? Do I use a cane? Are my right leg and arm paralyzed? Can I see out of both eyes? Have I passed the “55 and Alive” class? Do my four DUIs count against me? Do my five speeding tickets last year count against me? Am I on illegal drugs? How about a urine test right now? Am I on drugs that prevent me from driving? Do I smoke marijuana? Do I have car insurance? Are my license tabs up-to-date? Do I text while I drive? Have I ever served time in prison? How many car crashes have I had? Am I an illegal immigrant? Do I have a copy of my original driver’s license test from 60 years ago? No, they didn’t ask any of these questions. I took the seven sheets home and returned a few weeks later, with all the documents in hand, including: 1. A copy of my birth certificate. They do not take copies. It must be certified and original. 2. A copy of my marriage license. They do not take copies. It must be certified and orignal. 3. An up-to-date Social Security card. Mine still had my maiden name on it from 60 years ago. The clerk was at a loss how I got along for 60 years without updating it. (They didn’t ask for it when I applied for Social Security.) Well, where do I get all these documents I’m missing? The clerk didn’t tell me I could go over into the next clearly states in bold letters (so a person doesn’t miss it?) is that I am allowed to visit nuclear sites and military cubical and get them from the recorder’s office. bases in the US. (You would think those places should I returned about one week later. The clerk took me over to the eye machine. Do I see be very secure. Almost any person could walk in with two lights; one light? At one point, I was supposed to something dangerous in a backpack.) Meanwhile, a young man (age 16 or so) and his mother see two lights, but only saw one. (I wear glasses and see 20/20.) The clerk was at a loss as to why that was. came in – obviously from a foreign country – getting his first driver’s license. He had his photo taken, filled (Maybe a technical problem?) She’ll call it okay. The not-too-friendly clerk started on the paperwork out a few papers, and was out of there in five minutes. The other, very friendly clerk said, “Now you can by getting a big marriage book from 1959, and finding my original marriage license. She was not allowed to drive,” as she handed him his driving permit papers. I asked my clerk how would I have gotten a certified take it out of the book and photocopy it. She had to fill out a new blank form stating my maiden name, copy of my birth certificate if I was born and married husband’s name, bridesmaid’s and best man’s names, in a different state. She said, I would have to contact that state or priest’s name, church’s name, town and state, and county. dates. I asked her, if it has to be an original copy, how She spent about five minutes typing all this, and slid it over to me to see if everything was okay. She spelled can they remove it from their books and send it to the priest’s last name wrong. She had to do the whole Glencoe? She stated, “That would be your problem.” thing over again, and slid it over to me for my approval. If I walked 1,000 miles from a foreign country with She spelled the priest’s first name wrong. The slightly- only the clothes on my back, how would I get those irritated clerk had to do it all over again. I brought in a nice, yellow copy of my birth certificate papers from the country I left? Maybe I was born in a hut, and my birth wasn’t recorded. which looked original to me, but was unacceptable. The clerk had to find an original in a huge book from 1939; that seemed to satisfy the situation. Meanwhile, other papers were being slid back-and-forth. My mind was a blur. I had to fill out one more clerk-typed An Acorn Stairlift is the questionaire, which took perfect solution to use the about five minutes, and stairs if you suffer from: then I realized I put the address on the wrong line. � Arthritis or COPD The clerk had to type it all over again. Now she was � Joint pain in your feet, knees or back really getting irritated. The clerk asked if I � Mobility issues when would donate $2 to the using the stairs organ donor’s medical fund. The marriage and A+ Rating birth certificate charge was $9. Enhanced license was $41. The total bill was SPECIAL OFFER $52. She crowded two sheets CALL NOW TO RECEIVE of paper into a 2-inch-by- 3-inch envelope, and said I could drive with that; TOWARD THE PURCHASE OF stating it would take about A NEW ACORN STAIRLIFT! two months to get the single card. I can’t close my billfold, because the envelope is too fat. Total time? About 35 minutes. *Not valid on previous purchases. Not valid with any other offers or discounts. Not valid on refurbished models. Only valid towards purchase of a NEW Acorn Stairlift directly from the manufacturer. $250 The one thing the discount will be applied to new orders. Please mention this ad when calling. 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