I had to get a new driver's license because I somehow lost my most recent....after paying to get a new one with the correct address just months ago. So I drove the 45 minutes to the driver's license office, got a number and waited three hours.
The woman at the desk said, "You know, you can just renew your license and not have to come back in February when yours expires!" I said, "Sign me up!" Who wants to go through three more hours of rude people talking on cell phones so loud you'd think they were deaf, witnessing white trash pregnant mothers slapping their four year olds around (and the child seriously needed a bath and was wearing diapers no less), anxious 15 year olds waiting for their chance at a driving permit, etc. Didn't sound like a bad idea to get it all taken care of at once.
They made me take an eye exam which I failed until I realized that I couldn't see the first six digits on line 7 because I had a contact in my left eye for reading and a contact in my right eye for distance. The test doesn't account for that. Once I explained my situation, the woman behind the desk allowed me to read line 5 with only my right eye to make sure I was able to maneuver a vehicle without the benefit of a seeing eye dog.
Next I was finger-printed (when did that start?) and then the woman quietly asked me if the scarf on my head was due to medical reasons. (I thought I would be there 10 minutes so didn't bother with my alternative hair.) I explained that Yes, I wasn't wearing this just to look cool. She asked me to step back and look at the blue dot so she could get my picture. I said, "You're going to take my picture with my scarf on?" She said that they wouldn't require me to remove it. What I really meant was "You're gonna' MAKE me take a picture without hair, and that's going to be my driver's license photo for the next five years?" I stepped back behind the line and tried to smile but all I could squeeze out was tear-filled eyes. I stepped back up to the counter and the woman took my hand and asked if I was going through chemotherapy. I told her I was. She told me that she was a cancer survivor and I'd be fine. It's funny how you immediately get kinship with total strangers because of some devastating disease. I don't really want to be a member of this club. And I really don't want a reminder for the next five years that everytime I pull out my driver's license tha bald is NOT beautiful.
That does seem cruel...and all I can do is babble out my motto for the last year, "Embrace the brokenness, don't cave into it, don't fight the pain, just embrace it."
ReplyDeleteYou know, maybe that picture will just remind you of God's faithfulness for the next 5 years. Oh...and you are beautiful!
Michelle - You have a great way to put things in perspective. So true - the next five years I can look back and remember the trial that God brought me through. Remember that I still survive after five years. Maybe in five years I'll be sad to get a "normal" driver's license photo. Blessings to you!
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