The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has been a relatively pleasant experience in expedient government bureaucracy, a phrase I'd categorize as an oxymoron until this year. We've gone in, done our business and left without incident... until today.
I arrive at the BMV at 11:30, needing only to finalize a title transfer to IN, and obtain plates. The BMV staff had already performed the VIN check and insurance verification. This should have been no problem. At about 12:00, I finally get through the check-in line and take a seat in the waiting area. I have been assigned number 14. I look up at the "now serving" and see 82. This is not a good sign. When I sat down, I sat next to a couple of normal, clean folks. It was my misfortune to find that they were the folks who had been in the building the longest. The girl to my left said she came in at 9:40. Wow. 2.5 hours and she's still here. She was called shortly thereafter. The guy to my right went right after her. Here I am with an empty seat on either side of me, slowly realizing that this was going to be a long wait. It was too late to leave, as I'd already picked up my Tennessee title and all the associated "behind the scenes" paperwork. All I needed was staff assistance.
As I waited, in came the fattest human being alive. He waddled over and partially sat in the chair beside me. Most of him was out in the aisle. I wished I had moved to the end seat at this point, as that would have allowed him to take the two middle seats. Other than his misfortune of being too large for the seat, I took no further notice of the man. Then, he turned and asked me how long I'd been waiting. His breath was like 3 week dead fish gargling meat wash and feces. I almost fell out, but was able to mumble a reply to his query. Thankfully, he didn't breathe in my direction again. Well, maybe he did, but I didn't notice as a perfectly normal person came and sat to my right. It didn't take long for me to realize this was a much worse neighbor. Now, Carmen and I had the misfortune of walking near a smelly guy in the grocery last night, but this guy was rotten! I got up and left the area. So did several others. I was lucky enough to find new seating, and spent the next 3 hours waiting uneventfully.
At 3:30, my name was called. The number sign had gotten stuck on 94, so they switched to calling names. I didn't have to move far, as it was the station nearest to me. I sat down and handed over the paperwork for the lady to review. After every few moments of typing, she would turn to the worker on her left and ask a question like "what do I put here" or "what screen should I use?" I should have known things were not going well. I gave her my credit card to pay. She ran it through and said she needed to get some print outs. She came back from the printer with the Team Leader, who said "you should have checked that box right there. You haven't cashed out have you?" "Yes." "It wasn't credit card was it?" "Yes." "Crap." That is the literal exchange. It turns out they charged my credit card almost $500.00, and they couldn't credit me back. The final bill was only $139.00.
They said I'd get a check in the mail... and they couldn't give me even a ball-park figure of how long it will take.
It was not the best lunch 3.5 hours I've ever spent, but Carmen has Indiana plates now.
