becoming Mrs. Girouard

Holy Cow! A worthwhile endeavor, but who knew how much effort it would take?! My first "duh" was thinking my religious marriage license would be valid for the state. Ha! I had NO idea there was a different license out there, waiting for my $5.00 check, at the town office. I also had NO idea that a marriage license has an EXPIRATION date! Jeez! Once I finally got the license(s) from my mom and dad, who did all the leg work for me, I had the proper paperwork required to go to the Social Security office and to the CT DMV. I chose a day in the middle of the week to get it all done. And, let me tell you ...it took ALL day. A long drive over the bridge to East Hartford (the next town over, but I got lost, of course!), took me to the Social Security Office. A 30 minute wait and 4 minutes at the counter, and I was done. It was free! And it was simple! yeah! Off to the DMV. Department of Motor Vehicles, or Department Most Vile, however you name it...that place is the worst. I thought it was bad in Massachusetts. HA! Doesn't even compare to how bad it is in CT. The thing is, I just have to change my name on my license. That's it. Simple little change. It's even free of charge! So, you walk in this huge building with 45 hallways filled with room numbers. Each room has a description for its purpose, "New licenses", "Drivers exams", "Registration", etc. But none of them say, "Change name" or "License changes here". I'm confused, and certainly don't want to wait in a line of 30 people to find out I'm in the wrong room. There's no one available at the "Help" desk, of course. So I go inside one room, where there's only 3 people in line, and I wait patiently to ask where I should go. 5 minutes later, I was able to ask the young guy behind the counter and was told I had to go to room 164. The guy was young, which means he wasn't burned out like all the other DMV workers, so he took the time to give me some great advice; if i grabbed my car registration, the DMV would change my name on my registration for free as well, all at the same time. Of course! Why didn't I think of that?! Probably smart to change my name on my car registration so that the next time I get caught for speeding, my name on my license will match with the name on my registration! So i run back to my van, grab the registration, and am feeling so good about the productivity of my day. It's 2:15 pm. I walk into room 164 and am shocked by how many people are in line. There's at least 40 of us in this very small room. I'm almost out the door, into the hallway. There are only 2 people working at the counters. But I know I'm in the right place, with the right documentation, so I'm actually patient. The line starts moving at a good clip and now I'm 20th to go! It's 2:45 pm. And then...the blonde lady shows up. I cringe as I remember her fluffy, feathered hair. Instead of getting behind the counter and taking care of those of us in line, she goes through the line, asking each of us what we are here for. And you know how your inner voice talks to you? Well mine kept saying, "don't take me, don't take me!". The line was moving fast. She sent like 5 people to a different room because they were in the wrong place, and I was only a few short minutes away from getting my name changed. But oh no. She asks me why I was there and I tell her, to change my name on my....and then she cuts me off and says, "follow me, we'll get you 5 in and out quickly". Guess where I end up? The same room I started in, but this time, I'm behind 8 people. The blonde lady tells the two workers behind the counter that she has brought us over so they can process us. It's now 3:00 pm. By 3:30, I finally get my turn at the counter. Yeah! The young guy looks over to me and says, "you should be in room 164. we can't process registrations here, only your license." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Let's skip the part where I cry out of frustration, and move past the point of where I almost march up to the blonde lady, who disappeared behind the counter, trying to look busy. Luckily, the lady behind the desk felt bad for me, so she brought me back to room 164 and told them of my bad fortune, and they let me cut the line. Yeah! I made 30 people waiting in line behind me OH SO HAPPY by doing this. So I get called next in line, and of course, I get to be helped by a lady who is new, and has NO clue! First she tells me that I don't have to change my registration. That I can wait a year and renew it when it expires. I look at her and say, "And if I get caught for speeding and my license and my registration have two different names on them, do you think I'll get arrested?" She responds, "oh, i'm sure it'll be fine". but then, knowing she's wrong, but won't admit it, she takes my marriage license and while photocopying it, she asks her supervisor what she should do. Guess who was right? So, after 10 minutes of THE slowest typing ever, she finally hands me my new registration. I no longer own a Gray minivan. but now i own a Brown station wagon. ???? Tell me how this gets messed up? All she has to do is change OUELLETTE to GIROUARD. I even kept my middle name. Only me! So she shoos me over to the side of the counter to get my new license, while, instead of fixing my registration, takes a new customer. Gotta love it. So, I find out, they'll be taking my photo over. Yeah! I've been crying and i'm angry, so I'm SOOO ready to get my picture taken. I sign my license and stand in front of the camera awkwardly. Smile! The boy taking my picture then says, "oh darn". HAHAHA. More good news. He screwed up and used my old name, Ouellette, for this picture. And he canceled the print job too late, so he's got to wait until it's done printing before he can take my picture again. Well, I take this opportunity to ask him if my registration was all set. He went back to the lady who hadn't gotten to it, but lucky for me, her supervisor took over the job and fixed it. I now have a new registration. I sit and wait. It's now 4:10 pm. I retake the photo and wait for it to finish printing. The boy comes over to me in the waiting area. I thought he had my license. Nope, he came over to tell me that because my hair was up in a ponytail today, that he had to wait for his supervisor to come back and approve the new photo. My previous picture, taken only 8 months ago, was taken with my hair down. I guess this is how the life of a criminal starts. Changing their hair do on their license photos. Of course, while waiting the 20 minutes for my first, incorrect license to print, the boy didn't have the smarts enought to tell me that I should take my hair out of the ponytail to avoid this whole mess. Nor did he feel it necessary to get the approval of his supervisor then. Nah. He wanted to wait until she left the room, so I would have to sit and wait another 15 minutes for her to come back, say Yes, and get my license. AHHHHHH! I left the DMV at 4:35 pm. Oh so happy to be Mrs. Jaime N Girouard.