Part Two: I So Wanted to Choke Someone at the South Carolina DMV!

Okay, it's now Tuesday morning. I head up to DMV with what I believe is every piece of documentation I need. The lines are real long, which they weren't last month. After waiting nearly 45 minutes, I get up to the window only to find out that they won't accept my birth certificate because it doesn't have the official state seal on it.

I'm like WTF?

The last visit to DMV in April was when the clerk told me that I had to have an original copy of my birth certificate. Since we had one that was hand written and notarized by the lawyer who handled my adoption 41 years ago, we thought that was what they wanted. We even asked at the time and the clerk said yes that would work.

Well, it didn't.  No driver's license for me.

This particular clerk also had issue with the fact that my Georgia driver's license had "Marianne," my birth certificate had "Mary Anne," and that my Social Security card had "Mary A." This made me realize that a trip to the social security office might be necessary.  

See, I began writing my name as "Marianne" in high school because it was easier to write and looked cooler. My SS card always had my name incorrect. I guess some worker back in the day made the assumption that "Anne" was a middle name. It's not.

The only bright spot on Tuesday was that while at the DMV, I was able to get the tag for my car.

I still find it interesting how much more expensive Myrtle Beach is compared to Atlanta. One would think it would be the other way around since Atlanta is expensive. Not only was my car insurance $120 more a year, but my car tag ended up being substantially higher as well.  If I were to renew my Georgia tag for this year, it would have been $90 plus $25 for state emissions. Well for South Carolina it cost $111 plus a $39 tag fee. So $150 compared to $115.

Now back to the real drama.

While driving home from the DMV, my mother and I were racking our brains to try to figure out what they possibly wanted with the birth certificate. I was thinking that it had to be the copy that was back in Georgia in my file cabinet. I used it back in 1991 to go to Cancun. So it had to be an official legal document.

When I returned to the house, I called Phyllis (since she has people and all, lol).

After talking with her, the copy of my birth certificate I had in Georgia was indeed what was required. Thing is, the first clerk I saw back in April told me that wouldn't work because they had to have the original. Well, the only place on earth that has an original is the hall of records in the state you were born in. No person has their original birth certificate in their possession. 

I'm seriously starting to wonder if these DMV people are trained to be stupid and evasive assholes.

At this point I call my roommate, talk him through where this birth certificate is filed and have him overnight it to me in SC. That cost me another $22, by the way.

Since it's now early afternoon, I decided that I should head over to Conway and see about getting my name corrected on my social security card. I was armed with my Georgia driver's license, as well as a W2 and a bank statement - Both contained my name (as I spell it) and my SSN.

Stay tuned for part 3 and the semi -conclusion to this ordeal.