By far the most aggravating thing about moving cross-country is dealing with local government—the most troublesome of all being the motor vehicle department.
After several mornings of battling baffling websites, decade-long hold lines, and paperwork with inexplicable spaces, I cried out in despair…and then, I had an epiphany.
The DMV is a consequence of humanity’s sin. It is our natural punishment as well as a desperate bid for order against the chaos we constantly cause.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from detective shows, it’s that vehicle registration is essential to the working order of society. It’s often (in the shows, anyway) how sketchy dealings are traced and criminals tracked down.
Still annoyed at the inefficiency of the car registration process, I arrived at the depressing conclusion that if human beings weren’t so shifty, we wouldn’t need this system at all. It’s our own fault.
And so, I wait in the limbo of the DMV lobby, accounting for my sins and the state of society.
The wages of sin are ultimately death, but the penalties extend throughout our lives. Inconvenient as it is to visit, we ought to be grateful for the DMV as it slowly (and I mean slowly) struggles against chaos in its own ordinary way. In a perfect world, the DMV wouldn’t need to exist, but in our imperfect world, well, it’s doing it’s best I suppose.
P.S. The loveliest employee helped us today with our registration. Thank you, everyday hero, for combating chaos one license plate at a time.
Ryanne Molinari 
Leave a comment