Roadguy’s birthday is next week, and this year it meant a trip to get his driver’s license renewed.

I was prepared for the usual questions (name, address, organ donation, etc.) but I didn’t remember being asked whether I wanted my license to note if I had a living will. I’ve trumpeted the importance of health care directives before and I’ve filled one out, but I must sheepishly admit that mine technically isn’t finished because I never had witnesses sign it. So my license bureau visit served as a reminder to get that done, and I thought I’d share the heads-up.

My renewal experience was a breeze — the woman behind the counter said my new ID would arrive in 2-4 weeks, but it in was in my mailbox in less than one week (even with Labor Day).

Two bits o’ nitpicking:

• Be prepared for your forehead to be slimed when you lean into the little machine that gives you the eye test.

• The new license still says “MPLS” instead of “Minneapolis.” (I even spelled it out on my renewal form, in vain hope.) I’m sure this saves untold dollars of ink, and I’m not opposed to abbreviations in principle, but this one is just a hair provincial. To wit: When I was renting a car a few years ago in Florida, the guy behind the counter was copying down information from my license, and he looks at me and says, “What means M-P-L-S?” I couldn’t blame him — half the country doesn’t know where Minneapolis is, even if you do spell it out. So let me go on the record as saying I’d be willing to pay $0.01 more in fees to get the additional seven letters.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Good to know. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.