Remember, 4 Years Isn’t Really Forever

The fiftyish woman in the long blue coat wanted a picture on her new driver’s license that wouldn’t make her wince.

So she spoke up. “Let’s get a good one,” she implored the examiner behind the robot-like camera. “I’ve got to live with it for four years.”

The examiner, a woman with gray hair and dangling earrings, did not change her impassive expression. “We try and we try,” she said, dryly. “But we don’t have an airbrush.”

The woman in the blue coat, whose name was Miriam or something, did not seem to take offense. She placed her feet between the two green lines on the floor and readied for the flash.

Then it was her turn to wait Thursday morning at the state licensing center near the Lyons Avenue Cinemas.

“Delbert.”

“Sharon.”

One by one, other names were called. And the proud owners of brand-new Washington state driver’s licenses walked up to the counter to see how they looked.

Some smiled a little when they glimpsed their pictures. Some showed no emotion. But everybody looked.

“Heather.”

“Leonella.”

“Oooo, I look tough,” said a twentysomething woman with bleached-blond hair.

She didn’t seem to mind.

“Miriam,” the examiner called. “Let’s try again.”

“Oh, good,” gushed Miriam as she sprang from her seat in the waiting area, pleased that her get-a-good-one request was being taken seriously.

“You’ve got to keep your eyes open,” said the examiner.

So it was back between the lines. Another smile. Another flash. And then back to sit down next to a man who almost certainly was her husband.

“We’ll call you in a couple of minutes,” said the examiner.

A few minutes went by. Then, “Miriam.”

Miriam jumped up. “Did we do it?” she asked eagerly. “Oh, we did it this time, didn’t we?”

She collected her license, said “Thanks” and walked away looking at her new picture. Her reaction fell somewhere between a thin smile and a resigned sigh.

The man with her asked to see it. She handed it over. After a moment, he noted her listed weight.

“That was my dream weight,” Miriam explained.

“Still is,” he said, his expression softening the remark.

, DataTimes MEMO: Being There is a weekly feature that visits gatherings in the Inland Northwest.