Before Andrew began his trip on Tuesday, he took time to go and exchange his Maryland license for a Florida one. After all, the law says you should do it within 30 days of moving here, and this would start establishing his residency. We were surprised that the driver's license he was given was just a piece of paper, a "temporary" license that would be replaced by a proper card that would be mailed. The temporary license was a printed piece of paper, empty of photo ID, seals, or stamps, and looks like something that you could make using Word, in about three minutes. Most damningly, the paper said it was titled, "temporary permit" (This is usually what teens get in the U.S. when they're learning to drive, under supervision of experienced drivers.) When I had gone through this process, I had immediately received a card, so this was unexpected. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Andrew is a permanent resident? It was not explained, and Department's website makes no mention of these temporary licenses. We didn't worry too long, because he still had his passport for photo I.D.
And so the epic trip began. This trip involves, 4500 miles, four travelers, seven destinations, two countries, and planes, automobiles, and a motorcycle. A key component was the rental car, which he would pick up in DC and use for the next month. So when Andrew arrived in DC, the first order of business was to pick up the rental car which he had reserved in April. At the car rental company, he whipped out his brand new Florida driver's license, and the rental company said, "No, we don't think so." Repeated calls to their headquarters confirmed that it happens all the time that people arrive with these temporary licenses, and they're just left high and dry. No car rental companies will accept them.
What to do? For twelve hours, while he waited for his parents' plane to arrive from England, he debated. Back in Florida, I researched. He could go out and buy a junker car. (Why not? It's not much more than renting a car for a month.) I could fly up there and rent the car for them. (It's good we didn't do that, since my license was stolen the next day...) The best option appeared to be flying everyone out to Ohio, and then borrowing a car from my parents. (I'm thirty-five and still begging my parents to use their car...) In the end, we were saved by a coincidence. A few months ago, Andrew had sent his British license to his parents and asked them to renew it. When they arrived in D.C., we found that they had brought it with them. The rental company wouldn't accept a document from Florida, but they had no problem with one from the U.K.
Upon reflection, I realize this isn't a Kafka story, because it has a happy ending.
(And special thanks to the friends N&S who loaned A a car for the first day!)
4 comments:
And no one had to be turned into a human sized insect!
I also lost my NM drivers license recently and also got the paper temp one. I was told that it was for security reasons that they don't print them out right there any more. However, my paper temp had a picture. I made no attempts to go through either TSA security or rent a car with it.
Wow! What a story of fate and humility... Just when you think you've got everything figured out and are in control - life decides otherwise. I hope the rest of the trip is going more smoothly so far!!
here's hoping that's all the bad karma for the trip out of the way for the rest of it!
it seems a bit more heller (and catch-22)-esque to me. A willingness to accept something that seemed to be more officially bureaucratic (a british license) than the thing that would make the most sense (e.g., his temporary one produced in the US WITH his passport).
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