Some Things are Universal

Do you look forward to going to the DMV? Me neither - not in Kansas or in Hong Kong. But, I've had the pleasure of being a regular customer at the Transport Department (DMV) in Hong Kong over the last month.  If you could ignore the language being spoken and the Chinese characters on signs, you might actually think that you were in any Division of Motor Vehicles department in America. The things that were strikingly similar were:

• Signs everywhere listing required documents, warning about fraud or misrepresentation, offering safety advice, and directing people to the appropriate line.
• The service counter is over-run with people who didn't bother reading the signs.
• Lots of hopeful new car owners running around with piles paperwork, standing in long lines only to learn they were missing a document (despite the signs)...therefore rejected by the DMV.
• The workers look absolutely morose; their expressions and body language read "I would like to be anywhere else in the world than here!!"

Sound familiar?  I've decided that the only way to get out of the DMV without being annoyed is to enter it with a sense of humor.  The approach served me well yesterday when...

I got in an amazingly short line - only two people ahead of me with five service counters open.  My lucky day!  Then a guy went around to make sure that people had the right paperwork for license renewals.  He said since I only was renewing one car, they said I could go to a special line for people that don't have a stack of papers.  It really was my lucky day!  They were really concerned about my convenience - I'm sure I was practically beaming with gratitude.  Then... I got placed at the end of a six person line with two service counters open. There was a woman worker polishing up her 10-key adding machine at one of the closed windows.

I did get a smile out of the girl at the counter that eventually helped me.  She thought it was really funny that I have a Chinese name, in addition to my real name, on my Hong Kong Identity Card (long story).  Before moving me on to the next counter, she giggled and wrote "ENGLISH" in big letters across my application - I'm sure this was to prevent any confusion about my native language or nationality. :)

The workers are behind glass and the only opening is where you slide the documents under.  You can't hear anything without putting your face on the counter to allow your to ear line up with the opening.  Even better, with all the public service announcements being broadcast over the PA, you have to yell to be heard.

But this is my absolute favorite part about going to the Hong Kong Transport Department - I only wish I could take a picture (taking photos in a government agency here just seems like a bad idea).  There is a sign that states that you need to make sure all your papers and receipts are in order before you walk away from the counter because: "Any complaints will not be entertained later." 


And to think I'd actually considered paying a courier to go to the Transport Depart on my behalf - I would have missed all this!