Huckleberries: Evidently, knowing the rules won’t help

What do you have to do to get a driver’s license renewed in Coeur d’Alene? CDA Canuck, a regular commenter at Huckleberries Online, wondered about that after he made two attempts to renew his license at the Kootenai County Courthouse. On Monday, CDA Canuck spent 10 minutes looking for a parking space in the packed courthouse lots only to encounter a standing-room-only crowd at Driving License Central. He got as far as the door before he gave up. However, before he stomped off, CDA Canuck noticed a sign on the door that read: “Short Staff, Long Waits, Please Be Patient.” The sign also said the office opened at 7:30 in the morning. So he arrived at opening time Wednesday, to beat the rush – and encountered another sign: “Due to Short Staff Not Open Until 8:30 Mon, Tues, & Wed.” Twenty-eight minutes later, CDA Canuck was posting at Huckleberries Online about his not-so-close encounters with the county office: “This lack of adequate customer service, at least on the part of this particular county office, is unacceptable.” CDA Canuck’s complaint spurred a lively discussion in which two other commenters mentioned that they had friends who took time off from work this week to accompany their teenagers to the licensing department to get learner’s permits – only to encounter a sign that said the office was closed for training meetings. This isn’t the way you spell p-u-b-l-i-c s-e-r-v-i-c-e.