Amy Lu's View

Wednesday morning I got my Real ID. #AchievementUnlocked.

This triumph was especially sweet as it came on the heels of a crushing defeat: On Tuesday, I completely failed to get my Real ID.

Yes, I spent almost two hours on my 50th birthday waiting at the DMV and left empty handed. (I tried to get a regular ID as a Plan B but the wait was just as long). I didn’t fail due to lack of proper documentation (I did at least do enough of my homework to come with all the necessary paperwork) but I simply did not take into account current DMV wait times.

I was almost in tears as I left the DMV. Not only was I disappointed and frustrated, but I started to panic. Since my license was soon to be expired, was I going to have to take the written test? Or horror of horrors, the behind the wheel test?

And no, the librarian couldn’t find the answer… but luckily my husband could. I did NOT have to retake any test as long as my license wasn’t more that a year expired. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to wait in line that long.

But when and where would I achieve success? I did not want to try the Minnetonka location again, so what location should I gamble on? (Hennepin County allows you to make appointments online but there weren’t any available for at least two weeks).

I looked obsessively at the Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services website to consider which location would be the best, and finally decided to try Roseville.

Overall, my trip to the Roseville license station was highly successful (once I figured out where to get a number so I knew where I was in line) and I only had to wait about half an hour. Other customers did make comments about how long the wait was but I just smiled knowingly.

I don’t actually have my Real ID yet, as they will send it to me, so I just have a piece of paper that is my temporary license. I don’t know if it’s super snazzy or holographic or what. I do know my photo is awful and I look frightened and harried but that is an authentic representation of the whole Real ID experience.

I hate wasting time, so I’m trying to focus on what I learned during my whole quest to get a Real ID to make the whole experience useful:

• Don’t wait until the last minute to do things
• Don’t fall victim to the Sunk Cost Fallacy: Just because you’ve waited over an hour at the DMV, it’s not worth it to keep waiting if you’re obviously not going to get helped before they close
• Don’t jump to freak out mode as soon as things don’t go as you go hoped or planned

Hmmm, none of those takeaways are groundbreaking, but sometimes we have to keep learning the most obvious things over and over until we really learn them.