Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Part One: Departure

Oh, New York…

How I love you. Even when my job was terrible and my love life barren, my enduring love for you made me so happy. I shall tell the story of my New York visit in five parts, beginning with my departure for the city.

My last few days in Virginia passed quickly in a frenzy of laundry and packing. Then I decided to renew my driver’s license. I already told you of my carding trouble. (Who knew I was such a baby face? Seriously, my wrinkles must be more obvious to me than to others.) Anyhoo…I was a bit nervous about having trouble getting into the bars or dance clubs my New York friends might want to go to. I was REALLY nervous about trying to fly with an expired license.

My roommate Alex was nice enough to drive me to the DMV and wait…and wait…and wait. When I got to the front of the line and informed the woman what I wanted to do, she winced, then asked, “Do you have your current license?” I did. “An additional form of government-issued ID?” I set down my passport, social security card and birth certificate. With each item I provided, she looked astonished. Then, her face tense with anxiety, she asked for proof of residency. I gave her a pay stub, and she beamed. “Did you check the web site?” I replied that I had. “Oh, I’m glad. People don’t check and they stand in that long line and when they find out they need documents they don’t have, they get so mad.” She’d spent the whole transaction dreading me screaming at her. Heh. Poor woman! Maybe they should post a sign on the front door listing the required documents. I’m glad I could cheer her up a bit, and the picture on my license is pretty good!

Wednesday night Alex was nice enough to take me to the bus station. My parents gave me an inflatable travel neck pillow for Christmas, and it made a big difference in the eight-hour trip. Last time I ended up with a terrible kink in my neck. This time I popped in my earplugs, hunkered down with my dorky neck pillow and woke up feeling fine.

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