Bundled up in Red Tape

Today was the day we decided to get our Florida Drivers licences.  I guess we need them so that we can get Florida car insurance, so that we can get Florida tags, so that, ultimately, we will be Florida residents, and thus less likely to be stopped for speeding or other violations down here.  Hmmm.  I sure hope it works that way, because I feel like I wasted about 3 hours of my wonderful life sitting at the DMV explaining things.

First of all, we each  had to have an original Birth Certificate, an original Social Security card, and 2 pieces of mail, with our name and address on them, that were less than 60 days old. Oh, I also had to have an original marriage certificate because I changed my name when I got married.   We actually had saved a bill that had come here with Bob's name on it, so he had one piece of mail.  (Good ol' Florida Power and Light!)  But he was still short one piece of mail.  So, thinking this would work, we took the Warranty Deed on the house, which had both our names on it. 

Well, they didn't like my birth certificate because I'd gotten it in 1977, and it was hard to see the raised seal.  And they weren't crazy about my marriage certificate, either, because the clerk had misspelled my name and used whiteout to change it.  Back in the day when nobody cared about that sort of thing.  And they weren't going to give me a license.   So I told them that my Wisconsin drivers license was good until 2019, and I was sure it was valid in Florida, so that was what I'd be using.    Then, suddenly, the problems with the documents got better.  At least mine got a little better.   As it turned out, the piece of mail from Florida Power and Light could be used as a proof as long as Robert signed a document stating that I lived at the same address.  But then, it turned out that the Warranty Deed didn't actually have our ADDRESS on it, just the legal description.  The nice ladies at the DMV were able to solve that problem through the magic of computers.  So we registered to vote, wrote out one big check, swore that we were truthful, and happily waited for our new cards.

But, unfortunately, when mine came out it said 'Laurie Ann Larson' which is not my real name, and renders the drivers license pretty useless.  Luckily I caught the mistake, and we were able to correct it and get a new card and new voter registration with the correct name.  I caught it because Minnesota made the same mistake 3 times, and I think Wisconsin made it once also. 

Anyway this process has taught me two things, which I kind of already knew, but am now way way more aware of. 
1.  It is going to very hard for people to get voter identification if they don't have it.  Old records aren't so good, even if they are valid.   Never let your drivers license lapse.  When new rules are applied to old records, the process can get very messy.
2.  The process is harder on women.  Girls, keep some bills in your name so you get some mail in your name, in case you ever need it.  And the whole marriage certificate thing is just stupid.  We should be able to prove our name based on other identification.  I had a perfectly good unexpired Wisconsin license that had my correct name on it, and that document should have been enough.  They were willing to accept a check with my name on it, without a marrige certificate.

Next up: Insurance and vehicle plates!  I can hardly wait.