Service with a Smile

With all the recent Michael Jackson coverage and trying to navigate the paperwork nightmare of buying a house, I almost forgot that I have a birthday coming up. It wasn't until I received an email from my mom that I realized that, oh, right, it's next week. Thanks mom for the reminder!

So along with this birthday comes the renewing of my driver's license. And I realized this funny fact: This (Minnesota) is the first state I've ever lived in long enough for my driver's license to actually expire. So today I made the trip down to the DMV to ceremoniously recognize the commitment I've made to the great state of Minnesota. And it was delightful.

Though you might think I'm being a bit sarcastic, I'm actually quite serious. The place was filled with a myriad of cultures and colors and ages and basically contained a perfect representation of the United States. And since people watching is one of my favorite activities, it was quite a thrill. I eavesdropped on the Brazilians sitting ahead of me and laughed at the mixed race couple's exuberant children. When I was finally called to the window, I was greeted by the most delightful Middle Eastern woman. She acted incredulous when I answered that I was in fact over 21 years old, so I wouldn't be needing a special driver's license. That in fact, I'm turning 27! And she went on and on about how wonderful and cute my drivers license photo was. I could have hugged her.

So a special thank you to the Minneapolis DMV for turning my annoyed-at-having-to-renew-my-drivers-license frown into a smile in just under an hour. The pleasure was all mine.