Positively Positive Government Experience

I had to go renew my van tags today and it was actually a very pleasant experience. I got the inspection done this morning, then headed to the tax collector's office to get my tax waiver. Yes, in MO we pay property tax on our vehicles. No, I don't know why. The I headed off to the DOR License Office. It's not the DMV - Department of Motor Vehicles here, it's the DOR - Department of Revenue.

I usually go to the office here in Independence but the girl in the bank earlier suggested I go to the office in Sugar Creek because it's faster. So I decided to give it a try. The Indep office is huge with about six work stations plus the station for license renewal where they take your picture and all that. They've also got a computerized check-in system. The Sugar Creek office is tiny by comparison with only four work stations plus the license renewal station; and they have an old deli-style 'take a number' machine just inside the door.

At the Indep office there are, at most, about four stations open along with the one for licenses and there's a worker at each station. When I got to Sugar Creek there were two workers at stations with one of the girls running back and forth from her station to the license renewal station. Remember, I said two workers. And they were extremely pleasant to all the customers - smiling, calm voices, none of the nasty looks or attitudes that generally come from government workers when we, the peons, don't have all the paperwork we need.

When I got there they were out of numbers so the running girl replaced them and handed me the last one on the used roll - number 95. Then she went back to her station. All four rows of chairs were full save one seat in the first row. There were also people standing around waiting for their numbers to be called. As I sat in the last empty seat I noticed that they were only on number 72. It was 2:00. I was going to be there for hours; or so I thought.

Within about 15 minutes of the time I sat down two more workers appeared from the back and took their places at the last remaining work stations. Nice but there were still a lot of people waiting and more coming in every few minutes. What surprised me was that the workers were actually helping people and getting them out the door within minutes of calling the next number. Amazing, right?

At the Indep office I've always noticed the workers chatting with one another and taking their time getting paperwork filed once the customer left and taking short breaks here and there. At the Sugar Creek office today these four ladies took one customer after another and did their jobs so efficiently that I was really impressed. Yes, there were one or two customers who didn't have all their paperwork and were, very politely, given instructions on what they needed and then given a pass to the front of the line if they chose to return today with their needed documents.

There were also a few numbers called where the customer had left the building so the workers would immediately move on to the next number. Indep doesn't do that. They call a number and wait for a few minutes to see if that person will suddenly appear. I understand a short wait but when there are 70 people still waiting to be helped more than about 20 seconds is too long without the worker calling the next number.

In any case, I sat there for about an hour before I was called to the work station. Not only did I get my tags renewed, I also ordered a full title since I paid off my van a couple of months ago, AND the girl allowed me to change the address on my license without having to present my birth certificate. It's a new rule here in MO that we need them to make changes to our licenses but this girl was really nice and just did what needed to be done. I guess because I had so much other documentation with me that verified who I was. I was really pleased.

So, not only did I not have to wait very long but I got everything done that I needed to do without having to make a return visit next week. I couldn't have been happier and I told them so before I left. I know I'll definitely return to the Sugar Creek DOR License Office the next time I have business there and I'll recommend it to any of my friends who ask for my preference. Who'd have thought that a trip to the motor vehicle office could inspire happiness? I didn't - until today. :)

Until next time...peace to all.