A miracle at the DMV

This morning I brought Kegan to the Spokane Valley DMV on Sprague to make an appointment for his driving test. Gasp. I think this is every mother’s nightmare … putting a kid who possesses such a short attention span that he can’t remember to turn in his homework or put the milk back in the fridge behind the wheel of a potentially dangerous piece of machinery. (To stave off the inevitable panic attacks I embarked upon a preventative regimen of Xanax weeks ago.)

Anyway, I’d brought along some knitting, a cup of coffee and a granola bar because I figured making this appointment would be an all-day affair. We walked in and Kegan pushed the green button on the hurry-up-and-wait machine. His number was still printing when “The Voice” says, “Now serving number 354 at Window 5, please.”

We looked at the number still spooling from the magic machine – 354. It pretty much felt like we’d won the lottery. We walked through the virtually empty waiting room and approached the counter. The friendly lady (that’s right, I said friendly … at the DMV … it happens) sets about scheduling Kegan’s test while I practice my yoga breathing.

Before we leave I ask her if it’s always this quiet in the morning. She tells me no, it’s totally packed from 9 to 9:45, then things settle down until about 11. There’s the inevitable lunch rush, and then it’s quiet again until about 3 or 3:30, when all hell breaks loose until the doors close at 5.

Which means service is theoretically unbelievably swift between 9:45 and 11, and from 1:30 to 3. Make note of this, friends. Because some day you’ll be walking your kid up to that counter. And when you’re about to put your precious child out on the road, there’s nothing more disturbing than sitting for long stretches of time in a roomful of people who are trying to get their license for the first time, or trying to have their license returned after having them revoked for reckless or drunken driving.

Get in. Get out. And get your prescription refilled.