So here we are after discovering that the NC DMV appointment system isn’t fit for purpose and our reconnaissance of the New Bern Avenue licence office leaves a bit to desired…today we’re going to make our first attempt to score Katie’s permit and Alexander’s state-issued ID.
We immediately headed to the New Bern Avenue location as it’s the closest to Enloe High School right after dismissal thinking that based on the amount of people waiting in the lobby on Monday was a good chance of not having to wait too long.
And we were right about not waiting too long.
Sadly, it was because the lobby was full and the person who had blown past me on Monday whilst making her escape was now actually manning her armoured plexiglass post made it clear that walk-ins were not welcome at all. This was news to us as there is no sign to that effect nor was it mentioned on Monday when I had made it clear the intent to wait for an available opening.
As we’d find out later, the reason that lobby was so empty at the first visit was likely due to the statewide policy of not doing road tests after 1600 hours which it was surprising that wasn’t mentioned by either lady at New Bern Avenue.
That left plans B and C being trying the Wendell and Clayton driver’s licence offices, respectively.
We picked the Wendell office as our first choice because it was likely much easier to get there quickly given the traffic of that time of day and it was…we were there within 15 minutes.
The difference in the general vibe of the Wendell office couldn’t have been any more different than what we’d experienced at New Bern Avenue. Even though the Wendell office is much smaller and yes, it does look like the state did get a bulk discount on NC Central Prison Chic grey wall paint…the overall feeling is far more open, friendly, and welcoming.
They even had a big blue sign in plain view with a QR code inviting people to make application to join their team. Imagine that! 🙂
It didn’t take long for the kind gentleman who triaged our requests to verify our documents and give us a number for their shortlist and reassure us we had a better than average chance of being served.
You’ve got to love the randomly assigned numbers so that you really can’t tell where you stand when the call comes over the tannoy to report to a particular booth. The letter prefix seems to indicate what sort of licence or ID you’re looking to acquire.
We ultimately only ended up waiting about 30-45 minutes before Katie was called to booth 4 and her documents were processed so she could do the road signs test (which doubles as a vision test) in this huge Viewmaster-like contraption and then sit her road rules examination at a computer terminal nearby.
Whilst she was doing that, Alex and I were back in that general area and didn’t wait long before Alex was called to booth 3 for processing his application for a REAL ID.
Here’s where I’m going to sing the praises of the ladies that were occupying these stations that afternoon. Both of them were very friendly and engaging and went out of their way to put us at ease at navigating the REAL ID process which can be fraught with pitfalls.
I truly didn’t know how difficult it was going to be for Alex’s ID card given his challenges and difficulties in terms of communication as well as understanding what the licence examiner was asking him to do during the various steps.
I need not have worried about it…his examiner was *SO* patient and engaging with him. He was able to use the little pen and pad to write his name which he did really well the multiple times he had to do it. She was able to navigate him through the tricky process of pre-registering him to vote (and yes, it’s shocking to think that in a little over a month he will be eligible to vote!). Before we knew it, he was already done with the process and had his paper copy of the ID card in hand (NC cards are centrally produced and mailed).
Soon after, Katie had successfully passed her examination and had her paper Level 1 permit in hand and it’s time to pay the fees for the permit and the ID card.
That was when we got another very pleasant surprise…as it turns out, Alexander’s ID card is actually free of charge (well, as free as it will be when you pay the taxes funding NC DMV’s operations, but still…) so I only had the permit fee to pay. That was a very nice ending to what was already a pretty painless and pleasant encounter at the Wendell driver licence office.
And even more remarkable was how quick and efficient the employees were not only with our cases but with the mix of requests in general which was a mixture of walk-ins and appointments. They really moved things along quite quickly much like Flash the Dash in his speeding muscle car when he’s pulled over by Officer Hopps and Officer Wylde at the end of “Zootopia”.
Before we knew it, we’re on our way out the door…
To be sure, I’m convinced we’d have likely had a similar experience at the office near Clayton but it’d have taken longer to get there with traffic. When Nicholas got his first permit during the COVID-19 pandemic, the examiner at that office was exceptionally cool and understanding and did a great job relieving Nick’s anxiety about the process.
Katie offered to drive the Traverse but I don’t think I’d do that to her at rush hour without giving her some time to get used to a SUV in an empty car park first. We’ve got a year to play with to get her mandatory 60 hours of logged driving time…no need to rush it!
Hopefully the next time we need to visit DMV, they’ll have sorted out the appointment system (frankly, they may as well scrap it entirely…even if you have an appointment, you end up waiting and hope that no employees had called out or had an examination that took longer than planned) and properly staffed their offices.
But in the likely event they don’t, I’m pretty sure I know which office we’re going to try first!
Well done, Wendell! 🙂