There are a lot of things that require patience, and for the most part, humans are pretty good at being patient.
We sit and chat at restaurants while we wait for our meal to arrive. We occupy ourselves in waiting rooms until a medical assistant calls our name. And we listen to music in our cars while we creep in long, swerving lines to Chick-fil-A and In-and-Out.
Patience is a virtue in almost every aspect of life. It’s such a vital part of the human experience that we teach it to our children. When they want something now, we make them wait until later. And it’s not because we’re cruel. We just want them to learn the value of patience.
But there’s one place where this value doesn’t exist. It’s a place where all hope is lost, and anger ensues. It’s a building that we only enter after leaving patience at the door because we know it won’t matter.
This place—where we tend to forget common values—is called the Department of Motor Vehicles, also known as the DMV.
The most frustrating wait we experience
The most frustrating wait for Americans happens at the DMV office. We dislike waiting at the DMV more than we hate waiting in lines to purchase something at a retail outlet, register at a clinic, or check-in for a flight.
We only visit the DMV once or twice a year, but the wait has left such a negative impression that we can barely walk into the building without sighing or frowning. But the long lines at the DMV aren’t the only reason we dislike going. It’s just the first.
There are plenty of reasons why people dislike the DMV, but for the sake of time, we’ll keep the list short. Here are some of the top reasons why people hate going to the DMV office.
1. There’s not enough assistance
We’ve all been there. We walk into a DMV and see two employees working and 20 people waiting for assistance. What do we do in that situation? We grab our ticket, try to find a seat, and simmer in our frustration.
While there’s probably a valid reason for the inadequate number of employees at a DMV office, it doesn’t change the fact that we have to wait for two employees to get twenty people out of the door. What’s worse is that we don’t know why each person is at the DMV.
Someone might need help with a task that takes 5 minutes, while others need help with something that takes an hour. And the only thing we can do is sit and hope that it’s the former so that a DMV employee calls our number at a decent time.
2. The person who won’t get off their phone
The DMV experience is stressful. But it’s worse when you’re sitting next to someone who won’t get off their phone. Usually, something like this wouldn’t be bothersome.
But what makes it hard to deal with is when that person is speaking loudly or angrily to whoever is on the other end. In that situation, the DMV becomes small, almost as if the walls are closing in on us. And there’s no way to get out.
This suffocating feeling is one of the top reasons why people dislike the DMV.
3. The tense arguments and their repercussions
When we don’t value patience at the DMV, our bad side sometimes kicks into full throttle.
For whatever reason, there’s always at least one bad altercation at the DMV office, and it can taint our whole experience. When people’s voices get loud, and they’re emotions are high, the energy in the room transitions from stale idleness to tense and frightening.
The consequences of the argument even linger after it’s over. We become hesitant to get assistance from the employee who was in the altercation. We can’t discern if he or she is in a good mood or wants to take their anger out on us.
Sometimes, we consider starting a conversation to relieve the tension and breath positivity back into the room. But even that’s risky. What if the employee shuts down our attempt to be nice, and we’re left standing in our embarrassment? No one wants to experience that rejection.
4. The possibility of running late
There’s always a moment at the DMV where we wonder if we timed everything correctly. Did we carve out enough time to get everything done? Will we make it to our next appointment? Surely, three hours is enough time to get in and out of the DMV.
When we have other obligations after our DMV appointment, we want to fulfill them. Typically, we do this by getting to the DMV well in advance of our next errand. But sometimes, when the lines are long, and each person’s needs require 20 minutes to address, we have to reconcile with the idea that we might not make it to our next destination on time.
This inconvenience is frustrating if our next task is a doctor’s appointment or something else that’s important to us. But there’s nothing we can do about it unless we want to leave the DMV and come back later only to wait in the same long line.
5. The lack of help and information
When we finally make it to the desk to speak with someone, it can seem like an accomplishment, one that we should savor. We’ve made it through the wait. We’ve overcome the test of time. And now, everything should be perfect, right?
Wrong.
Few feelings compare to what we experience when we realize that a DMV employee doesn’t have the information or knowledge to help us. Phrases like I need to speak with my supervisor, and I don’t know if we can do that here are arguably a slap in the face.
After hours of waiting, the last thing we want is to wait for someone to assist the person who should be assisting us. Or to realize that no assistance will even take place. The lack of helpfulness makes it easy to understand why people dislike the DMV.
How to overcome our dislike of the DMV
The reasons why people dislike the DMV are plentiful. But if we want to overcome this disdain, we have two options: utilize patience or take advantage of time-saving solutions that are online.
Companies like Barry Risk Management, Inc. can handle all our DMV needs from the comfort of our own home. The company has knowledgeable representatives that can tackle DMV services and complete them in little to no time.
Why spend hours at the DMV when we can use online solutions that do the same thing without giving us a headache? We don’t have to put ourselves in unnecessarily hard situations, not when we have better and more convenient options.
Barry Risk Management, Inc. makes things simple, and we should take advantage of that gift. Otherwise, we’ll have to continue to spend one or two afternoons at the DMV every year, dreading problems as usual.
Speak with a representative at Barry Risk Management, Inc. to handle your DMV needs online. Someone with knowledge and years of experience will have the tools to help you quickly.
