You Can Find Story Ideas Anywhere - Especially the DMV

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I’m convinced you can find characters and story ideas anywhere, even the DMV and the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Last week, I decided to go online and prepare my documents to get my Real ID drivers license. I had everything ready, including my online form. How hard could this be? I was ready.

Last Friday, I arrived at the DMV with all my paperwork in a folder at 8:04. There were 67 people already ahead of me in line, and the place had only been open for 4 minutes. I waited 2 hours to get through the triage desk and to customer service. I’m glad I brought 2 books. I finished the first 1.

When it was my turn at the counter, the clerk did a marriage license search because of my name change years ago. She couldn’t find the record. I had the certificate that city/state issued when I got married, but they wouldn’t accept that as an official document even though it had a nice seal at the top from the Commonwealth. I had to drive downtown to the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Thankfully, the guy there found it and provided a copy. That would have been an awkward dinner conversation. “Hey, Honey. Remember when we thought we were married 28 years ago?” No worries. We’re legal.

Then I had to drive back to the county DMV and finish the process. Three hours later. (And the nice DMV clerk let me back in line, so I didn’t have to start over and go through triage again. If she hadn’t, I probably would still be there.) Then I found out I had to wait 7-11 days for my license to arrive in the mail. (It arrived yesterday, so all is well, but the picture is as bad as the last one. It definitely reflects how frazzled I felt. So for the next eight years, I have a souvenir to help me remember the experience.)

People-watching at the DMV and state agencies is amazing. There are so many opportunities for interesting character descriptions and behaviors. I took notes.

  • The security guard who spent most of his time ferrying clipboards back and forth from triage to customer service - He had a strange resemblance to Barney Fife.

  • The woman who was trying to get a drivers license without any ID

  • The older man who kept complaining in line and trying to start divisive political discussions with his neighbors and his quiet wife who shut him down

  • The clerks at the Bureau of Vital Statistics were dedicated to their processes. They used the formal number calling system through the speakers, even though there were only two of us in line.

  • The middle aged couple who spent their entire wait time trying to find the right personalized license plate from the samples in the display case

  • The toddler who entertained us in the seating area. I’ve never head so many verses of “Baby Shark” before.

  • Oh, and DMV gives you a code when you pass through triage. It has a letter and a number, but none of the numbers are in order, so you can’t tell how long your wait is. I think they did that on purpose.

Eavesdropping (I call it doing research) on conversations provides ideas, too.

  • I heard lots of different dialects and accents.

  • I heard about eight-five different reasons why people came to the DMV that morning.

  • I overheard several phone conversations. And now I know what too much about Nancy and her three teens.

  • And I learned most of the words to “Baby Shark.”

The staff at the DMV and the Bureau of Vital Statistics were very helpful, and I appreciate their expertise. So, look for story and character ideas where every you are, especially when you have to wait in line.

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