New York Awesome #3: DMV License Xpress Experience...

I'm brown - which means, if there is any slight suspicion, I am stopped in airports. And I must admit, I did give them suspicion. A few trips ago, I was stopped by a TSA guy who said I had been selected for a random screening....pretty funny right? Anyways, the guys begins to ask me many questions about where I live, what I do for a living. After meeting with him, he called, presumably his supervisor who repeated all of the same questions to me. They sat me down for a moment, walked away and came back with two police officers. They asked for the same questions a third time. All this stemmed from my still valid but faded Tennessee license. I had renewed mine for a 5 year period, meaning it would expire this year so I saw no need to renew (as I told the police officers: I hate the DMV). The ridiculous part is that the TN renewal is done in the form of a sticker which gives you a sticker featuring the expiration to paste to the back of your license. Needless to say, after removing and placing it back in my wallet hundreds of times over time (anytime an ID is required), the sticker got faded - as a result few people in authority positions - except bouncers in bars of course. As the cops told me, you have to surrender your out of state license within 30 days of residence in NYC and get an in-state one.

Note: I should note that the TSA guy was a dick but the police officers were actually quite nice. (Thankfully I had proof of local employment so they let me go).

Well, I finally had a chance to visit the DMV to get it done....and my conclusion is that, it wasn't that bad. I printed out the license change form from website. With that in tow, I got my ticket for the camera station. Camera guy was actually really funny and pleasant considering he was working for the government. With only three people ahead, I got the picture taken quickly. Next, I waited for my number to be called - the wait for this was about 20 minutes. My number was called and counter lady wordlessly processed my information. She then instructed me that my number would be called a second time for final approvals. (This portion was the longest wait). Last guy, examined my ID (you need to have your social security card and passport and past license if applicable), and took my TN license. He only said two things: 'that'll be $45' and 'you will receive your license in the mail in 2 weeks.'

Conclusion:
Given the reputation of the DMV, my expectations were quite low. That said, the camera guy was quite nice, the others said very little. I should be getting my license soon and I was out of there within about an hour and a half. I took along David Sedaris in case but it was needed. The visit could never be classified as awesome but it wasn't the expected torture.