Free Yourself! Go to the Secretary of State Office

     Yesterday I drove to my local Secretary of State (SOS) office to buy a new license plate. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

     When I walked in the door, I was greeted with a huge crowd of people all waiting or standing in line. What the heck? I thought. Are they giving away free money?

A Likeness of the Crowd Waiting

     In the first line I met a nice older man who had an Army cap on. I found out he drove Army trucks while serving in Vietnam. He told me a couple of good stories while we were waiting. After standing in line for a while and then getting to the counter, I told the lady what I wanted to do and she gave me a number and suggested I find a seat, quick!

My number was 110

     I looked at the number and I was number 110. No problem I thought. I'll be out of here in no time. The next number they called was number 60!!!! What????
     I proceeded to sit next to a younger guy and we struck up a nice conversation but it didn't last long. The stress of waiting was bad.

     After 15 minutes a guy yelled out "$35 to anyone willing to trade me with a number below 80!!!". Some foreigners in front of me started talking and then yelled to the guy "$200 and we'll trade!". No dice. The guy looked around some more and then yelled out $40!!!". He waited. No takers. He left.

     A tall beanpole looking guy in short shorts got in a line in front of me. I could see the back of his calves. There I saw one word on one calf and one word on the other calf. "Free Yourself". I thought to myself, "he's not going to free himself from this place..."

Apparently, it's a popular tattoo!

     The Indian guy next to me made a phone call to his insurance company. I heard it all...his account number, his coverage, his VIN, his type of vehicle...TAKE IT OUTSIDE!!!!
     After that call, he struck up a conversation with another young Indian to his left who was all smiles. I overheard that the younger Indian just graduated and now he was on his way to a free ride at Medical School at Boston University. He said Medical School and residency takes seven years. I thought to myself, "must be nice to be young and smart!" Nothing wrong with my hearing either.

Can you see him?

     "Number 80!" OMG, I'll never get out of here.
     Then a guy with long stringy hair sat down next to the future doctor and all I heard the rest of the time was an extra loud Chewbaka sound every time he got a text or an Email on his iPhone. I thought to myself "Put the darn thing on vibrate!!!!"

AAAAWWwwwwww!

     "Number 84!" OK, this is bad. Now I had been there way over an hour with no end in sight. About that time, a SOS woman wearing sandels came over with a clipboard and began lining people up. She yelled "Numbers 85 through 90. Line up in order and have your paperwork out and ready!"
     Once she did that, things started clicking and the employees began to work faster.
     Finally she got to 105 - 110. I got up and the guy from the Army got in front of me again so we started talking about Basic Training, AIT and my one son who is in the Army. I think he liked me and I thanked him for his service.
     Well I finally got my number called and at the counter to my left were three girls from Iraq with dark hair and large smiles. Two of them became US Citizens yesterday and they had their large certificate with their signed photo on it. A guy had to hide the certificate and ask them questions to verify they were the same person as the certificate. Apparently they passed and were awarded their special Michigan ID cards.

Congratulations! You Got Your Citizenship

      It took forever for my person to figure out what she had to do but finally everything clicked and I wrote my check. Out I walked with my new Spectacular Peninsula plate after waiting for almost two hours!!!

My Plate Looks Like This!

      After I got home, I put the plate on the car and it looks really nice.

     My advice to all of you? Get to the SOS office about 15 minutes before the doors open in the morning so you don't have to go through all the above grief. If, on the other hand, you are bored, wait until later afternoon to go there. You won't be bored for long!