Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Sad day

Today, I finally surrendered my Wisconsin driver's license.

Despite not living in WI for eight years (and having braces in my photo ID--terrible), I had a hard time letting it go. I've been living in Chicago for over four years, but I have not been able to bring myself to accept the unsavory title of "Illinoisan." From a young age, we are taught to scorn our southern neighbors who invade our state in the summer, swindle us out of our lake frontage, revel in our quaintness, and *gasp* root for the Bears.

It took the impending expiration of my last government-certified proof that I am not really a FIB* to make me haul my arse to the DMV.

The better part of my morning went as follows:
+ wait in preliminary line for 20 minutes
+ get yelled at for not having all documents out and ready
+ get yelled at for having a beverage (coffee) in the office
+ take ticket #F609 and stand in another line
+ wait for 1.5 hrs
+ listen to other people get yelled at
+ get yelled at for still not disposing of coffee
+ take/pass test (process which consisted of four more lines)
+ take a photo that I'll be embarrassed to show for four years

While having an Illinois license with current address will be really quite useful on a day-to-day basis, there are pitfalls when you cross the border into either Wisconsin or Michigan. These pitfalls usually come in the form of traffic tickets. Sigh.


* FIB: Fucking Illinois Bastard, or FIP: Fucking Illinois People for those who like to limit the swearing.

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