With the extra time in the US this year and Raegan about to turn 18, we had to work on getting her driver's license. She finally finished all the driver's ed stuff, logged the hours, and waited out the 6 month time period for holding a learner's permit. Now, one detail that many of you might not know is that you have to schedule your driving exam a couple months in advance. If you're willing to drive to a smaller town, you can get it done about 6 weeks in advance. Back in July I scheduled Raegan's test out in Bonham. It was less than 3 weeks before her 18th birthday and 8 days before Floyd and I were leaving the country. So, we had a tight window to get it done. Now, let's jump to the day finally arriving.
We drove the hour up to Bonham with plans to get their almost 2 hours early. It would be lunch time and she could practice the parallel parking one last time. Our appointment was at 2:10 and they recommend coming an hour early for processing, so it was actually a good plan.
She practiced her parallel parking without any problems, so we parked and went inside to wait. They only have 4 seats in the office, so everyone else has to wait in the front lobby. After about 15 minutes, I could hear a woman talking loudly, like an announcement, so I walked back to see what it was. She was at the end of explaining that there was some sort of problem, but, oddly enough, she didn't bother giving me the info when she saw me come up. After a decent wait time for her to realize she should repeat herself, I asked her what she had just announced. She asked why I was there and I answered, to which she replied, "well, you still have to be processed, so I guess you'll have to hope the system is back up before your appointment time." Now, I won't give you the play by play, but here's a summary. Their computer system was down, so they couldn't process any applications or paperwork at all. Of course, this is not my fault nor should it be my problem, but apparently if it wasn't back up before our appointment time, we were just out of luck. WHAT??? It would seem obvious to me that since it's their problem, we'd just wait for the system to be restored and still get served when our number was called, in the order of arrival/appointment - as it should be. But, I managed to not get frustrated or even say anything because I figured I'd just wait and pray that the system was restored quickly and there would be no need to have this discussion or frustration. I went back to the lobby.
The lady never came to the lobby to share the same announcement, which I thought was very inconsiderate because they are the ones that make you sit out there. As we sat there, I was surprised with the lobby talk. It was all about how rude the office people were there in Bonham.
Fortunately, the system was restored pretty quickly, so that issue never had to be dealt with. Our number was eventually called and we started the process. I had one piece of paper that I messed up and the lady was so gracious to help us. She had me send it to her in an email and printed it out for us. I was so grateful because the other alternative was for Floyd to bring a new print out from McKinney. That was another bullet dodged. We finished the paper work and were told it would be a short wait for the actual driving test. We were way ahead of schedule, nearly an hour.
Another young lady, also named Raegan, was also there to test. Her appointment had been that morning, but she was missing some signatures. They told her she could bring the paper back and sit on stand-by. If they had room to work her in, they would let her take the test. (this will soon be relevant).
We went outside and pulled our car up to the line to wait for the test administrator. There were 4 cars in line behind us. They begin by asking you to identify a bunch of parts of the car, which Raegan did with no problem, and then they inspect the car. When Raegan tapped the brakes, the brake light that is on the back window didn't come on. Now, I knew this was required for the driving test, even though it's not required to pass inspection, because a friend of ours had the same problem a few weeks before. I had purposely checked the light and it worked. But now it wasn't working. I was freaking out internally. The woman said, "you better get up there and tap it or something because you've got about 15 seconds before I have to move on."
Of course, the tapping didn't work. I asked her what we had to do and she said we'd have to schedule a new appointment (remember that 4-6 week wait I told you about??). I was literally trying not to start crying. With leaving the country, Raegan turning 18 (which effects the process), and just the frustration of such a simple thing that I purposely checked, I was about to lose my composure.
We moved out of line and headed into the office. When I got there, I realized it was only 2pm, which meant we were still ahead of schedule. I asked the lady, "if my husband gets here with our other car in less than an hour, could she take the test today?" The woman said, "your appointment was at 2:10." Of course, I already knew that. I also knew that the other girl was allowed to be on stand-by. So, this answer was just short and rude. Again, I was trying to hold my composure (not anger, but just frustration, panic, and uncertainty), but I said, "well, one of the other girls had her appointment at 10:40 and she's testing." The woman was clearly annoyed with my statement and made that clear. Then proceeded to explain that out of her own kindness she gave the other girl that choice because her appointment was in the morning, but our appointment was in the afternoon. Again, this is still not an acceptable answer, so I explained that the time of my appointment shouldn't matter, either people can wait on stand-by or they can't. Then I asked for clarification, "so, are you saying that you already know that you're schedule is too full and there wouldn't be anyway to work us in if we waited on stand-by?" She replied that this was the case.
The woman leaves the room and I'm left talking to another lady about rescheduling. The appointment will be in mid-October, which is after Raegan's birthday. I ask if anything will be changed since she'll be 18 and the lady says no. I do find out that anyone can bring her since she's already in the system, so that means I don't have to worry about leaving the country. I ask whether we'll have to pay another fee and another tense discussion ensues. She keeps telling me that Raegan already paid, but I'm already aware that her license will expire on her 18th birthday. Finally, I do find out that she will have to pay $25 for her adult license. (Lesson here: Even if you're good at your job, listen to the full question someone is asking you BEFORE answering. Not every person is unaware or ignorant and may be asking a legitimate question.)
Now we get to the BEST part! As I'm scheduling the new appointment, a female voice behind me says, "can she use my car?" I turn around and say, "What?" A young woman is there to get a new license because her wallet was lost or stolen. She proceeded to explain that she'd be glad to let Raegan drive her car if they'll let her. The woman in the office says that the other lady has to agree, so Raegan literally runs outside to ask. YES! YES, she can use any car as long as there is proof of insurance on the car! The girl did have a paper copy of her insurance (for the test, a digital copy is not acceptable).
The young woman gave Raegan the keys and she got back in the driving line. Now, one humorous note: Raegan had been driving our big 2005 Tahoe and that was the only vehicle she had ever parallel parked. This young lady had a very new sporty vehicle. I was definitely nervous for Raegan! Fortunately, she passed.
Now, while Raegan was out on the driving test, another little issue came up. The young lady whose car Raegan was driving was trying to get a replacement license. There is an $11 fee, which the girl planned to use her debit card to pay. The lady at the office accidentally hit the computer key for paying cash and said she couldn't undo it. The young woman would have to go to an ATM. Of course, she can't go anywhere because her car is occupied by Raegan. Suddenly, I remember that the previous Saturday I was going to be gone on foot for a few hours with the boys and Floyd got cash at the ATM for me. He didn't want me to be on foot with no cash. The ATM happened to let you choose your bills, so he got all small bills. On this rare occassion, I actually had cash! AND even small bills.
I gave her the $11. Of course, she didn't want to take it, but I explained that she did something kind to help Raegan and I wasn't paying her back, I was just also doing something to help out a stranger. I also pointed out that she had saved me way more than $11 by letting Raegan drive her car.
While waiting for Raegan to finish, we did discuss that we live in Uganda as missionaries and other random details. She was also not from anywhere near Bonham, but had driven there to avoid the long lines closer to the city. We parted with the girl saying, "it must have been a God thing that we ended up in the same place at the right time to help each other." I agreed!
We drove the hour up to Bonham with plans to get their almost 2 hours early. It would be lunch time and she could practice the parallel parking one last time. Our appointment was at 2:10 and they recommend coming an hour early for processing, so it was actually a good plan.
She practiced her parallel parking without any problems, so we parked and went inside to wait. They only have 4 seats in the office, so everyone else has to wait in the front lobby. After about 15 minutes, I could hear a woman talking loudly, like an announcement, so I walked back to see what it was. She was at the end of explaining that there was some sort of problem, but, oddly enough, she didn't bother giving me the info when she saw me come up. After a decent wait time for her to realize she should repeat herself, I asked her what she had just announced. She asked why I was there and I answered, to which she replied, "well, you still have to be processed, so I guess you'll have to hope the system is back up before your appointment time." Now, I won't give you the play by play, but here's a summary. Their computer system was down, so they couldn't process any applications or paperwork at all. Of course, this is not my fault nor should it be my problem, but apparently if it wasn't back up before our appointment time, we were just out of luck. WHAT??? It would seem obvious to me that since it's their problem, we'd just wait for the system to be restored and still get served when our number was called, in the order of arrival/appointment - as it should be. But, I managed to not get frustrated or even say anything because I figured I'd just wait and pray that the system was restored quickly and there would be no need to have this discussion or frustration. I went back to the lobby.
The lady never came to the lobby to share the same announcement, which I thought was very inconsiderate because they are the ones that make you sit out there. As we sat there, I was surprised with the lobby talk. It was all about how rude the office people were there in Bonham.
Fortunately, the system was restored pretty quickly, so that issue never had to be dealt with. Our number was eventually called and we started the process. I had one piece of paper that I messed up and the lady was so gracious to help us. She had me send it to her in an email and printed it out for us. I was so grateful because the other alternative was for Floyd to bring a new print out from McKinney. That was another bullet dodged. We finished the paper work and were told it would be a short wait for the actual driving test. We were way ahead of schedule, nearly an hour.
Another young lady, also named Raegan, was also there to test. Her appointment had been that morning, but she was missing some signatures. They told her she could bring the paper back and sit on stand-by. If they had room to work her in, they would let her take the test. (this will soon be relevant).
We went outside and pulled our car up to the line to wait for the test administrator. There were 4 cars in line behind us. They begin by asking you to identify a bunch of parts of the car, which Raegan did with no problem, and then they inspect the car. When Raegan tapped the brakes, the brake light that is on the back window didn't come on. Now, I knew this was required for the driving test, even though it's not required to pass inspection, because a friend of ours had the same problem a few weeks before. I had purposely checked the light and it worked. But now it wasn't working. I was freaking out internally. The woman said, "you better get up there and tap it or something because you've got about 15 seconds before I have to move on."
Of course, the tapping didn't work. I asked her what we had to do and she said we'd have to schedule a new appointment (remember that 4-6 week wait I told you about??). I was literally trying not to start crying. With leaving the country, Raegan turning 18 (which effects the process), and just the frustration of such a simple thing that I purposely checked, I was about to lose my composure.
We moved out of line and headed into the office. When I got there, I realized it was only 2pm, which meant we were still ahead of schedule. I asked the lady, "if my husband gets here with our other car in less than an hour, could she take the test today?" The woman said, "your appointment was at 2:10." Of course, I already knew that. I also knew that the other girl was allowed to be on stand-by. So, this answer was just short and rude. Again, I was trying to hold my composure (not anger, but just frustration, panic, and uncertainty), but I said, "well, one of the other girls had her appointment at 10:40 and she's testing." The woman was clearly annoyed with my statement and made that clear. Then proceeded to explain that out of her own kindness she gave the other girl that choice because her appointment was in the morning, but our appointment was in the afternoon. Again, this is still not an acceptable answer, so I explained that the time of my appointment shouldn't matter, either people can wait on stand-by or they can't. Then I asked for clarification, "so, are you saying that you already know that you're schedule is too full and there wouldn't be anyway to work us in if we waited on stand-by?" She replied that this was the case.
The woman leaves the room and I'm left talking to another lady about rescheduling. The appointment will be in mid-October, which is after Raegan's birthday. I ask if anything will be changed since she'll be 18 and the lady says no. I do find out that anyone can bring her since she's already in the system, so that means I don't have to worry about leaving the country. I ask whether we'll have to pay another fee and another tense discussion ensues. She keeps telling me that Raegan already paid, but I'm already aware that her license will expire on her 18th birthday. Finally, I do find out that she will have to pay $25 for her adult license. (Lesson here: Even if you're good at your job, listen to the full question someone is asking you BEFORE answering. Not every person is unaware or ignorant and may be asking a legitimate question.)
Now we get to the BEST part! As I'm scheduling the new appointment, a female voice behind me says, "can she use my car?" I turn around and say, "What?" A young woman is there to get a new license because her wallet was lost or stolen. She proceeded to explain that she'd be glad to let Raegan drive her car if they'll let her. The woman in the office says that the other lady has to agree, so Raegan literally runs outside to ask. YES! YES, she can use any car as long as there is proof of insurance on the car! The girl did have a paper copy of her insurance (for the test, a digital copy is not acceptable).
The young woman gave Raegan the keys and she got back in the driving line. Now, one humorous note: Raegan had been driving our big 2005 Tahoe and that was the only vehicle she had ever parallel parked. This young lady had a very new sporty vehicle. I was definitely nervous for Raegan! Fortunately, she passed.
Now, while Raegan was out on the driving test, another little issue came up. The young lady whose car Raegan was driving was trying to get a replacement license. There is an $11 fee, which the girl planned to use her debit card to pay. The lady at the office accidentally hit the computer key for paying cash and said she couldn't undo it. The young woman would have to go to an ATM. Of course, she can't go anywhere because her car is occupied by Raegan. Suddenly, I remember that the previous Saturday I was going to be gone on foot for a few hours with the boys and Floyd got cash at the ATM for me. He didn't want me to be on foot with no cash. The ATM happened to let you choose your bills, so he got all small bills. On this rare occassion, I actually had cash! AND even small bills.
I gave her the $11. Of course, she didn't want to take it, but I explained that she did something kind to help Raegan and I wasn't paying her back, I was just also doing something to help out a stranger. I also pointed out that she had saved me way more than $11 by letting Raegan drive her car.
While waiting for Raegan to finish, we did discuss that we live in Uganda as missionaries and other random details. She was also not from anywhere near Bonham, but had driven there to avoid the long lines closer to the city. We parted with the girl saying, "it must have been a God thing that we ended up in the same place at the right time to help each other." I agreed!
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