DMV Induced Ommatophobia



I have to renew my driver's license this year. It expires on my birthday. The DMV sent me a reminder postcard about a month a go. I wanted to get it done as soon as I got the card, but the state was shut down. Then I got busy. The next thing I knew my birthday was less than ten days away and I still had not done it.
Renewing a driver's license should not be a big deal, but it is for me. Like many people I have a few irrational fears and one of them is something I call DMV induced ommatophobia.
It's not quite the correct term. Ommatophobia is a fear of eyes. I'm not afraid of eyes. I'm afraid of the eye test that they give you at the DMV. I'm afraid that I'll fail it and be unable to get a license. It's silly, of course. I get my eyes checked every year and my prescription is always up to date on my contacts and glasses. There is nothing to be afraid of.
Yesterday C got off work early and picked me up. There was a discussion about what to do. I wanted to go to the license center and get my renewal over with. I had been dreading it all morning. He thought we could get some errands done first. I persisted, I wanted to get this done. I was tired of worrying about it.
I went up to the counter and was directed to a table with the form that needed to be filled out first. I filled it out, payed the fee and braced myself. Here comes the bad part.
"Put your forehead on this and read the top line," I did as I was told and started to panic. There were three boxes on top and the first one looked blank. Maybe there were tiny letters that I could see. I quickly rattled off the letters in the other two boxes hoping that I guessed right as one of the letters could be a 'D' or an 'O'.
"Do you see any blinking lights?" "Yes," I said, "On both sides."
"Stand over there." I went to stand in front of the blue screen where they take the pictures. I had passed. I would get to drive for four more years. I was relieved and didn't even mind having my picture taken. (I hate having my picture taken.)
I took the receipt and left. It was over and I survived. I won't have to worry about this for another four years.

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