When I was a little girl, I recall on a few occasions going with my father to get license plates for the cars or maybe a driver’s license. In Oklahoma, we refer to these places as “The Tag Agency”. Mrs. Grimes was our tag agent. A classy lady that also sold clothing. It was always a pleasant experience. Later, Mrs. Redburn took over the agency. Another sweet lady.
I’m not sure what happened after Tuttle, America. Other than dread. Oklahoma City, etc- the folks running the tag agencies were not happy campers. THEN we discovered the true DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) when we moved to Arkansas. It was just like what they made fun of on television! Long lines, rude workers and bad attitudes. I learned quickly to adjust my attitude to theirs to survive! The same in Texas and Missouri.
We have been back in Oklahoma for four years now. Round one at the highway patrol station when we first moved here wasn’t so bad. Other than the waiting. But then when we drove to the actual “agency” in our little town to get our license with our just approved papers, the lady told my husband, when looking at his birth certificate, “Well, I would never have accepted this.” I think this thirty year old didn’t know what a forty something year old birth certificate looked like! Of course it looks old! The next year when I had to renew our tags, I went to the OTHER agency in town. No friendly faces to be found there, either.
So on Friday, hubby and I had to renew our driver’s licenses, again. We were determined to find a Wanda Grimes or Cinda Redburn. So we decided to go to the agency in Collinsville, after he got his hair cut at the barber shop there. A quaint little town near ours that is fun to visit!
Just the day before, all of the Oklahoma License Testing Centers had been closed, mandatory. They would each have representatives at a statewide meeting to learn about the soon NEW licenses AND a main topic of discussion would be to address the state-wide customer service complaints. Someone in the state had a terrific idea. The most pleasant fast food industry is Chick-fil-A. So they were going to use them as an example to help turn the tables on the bad reps for the agencies. They would teach good customer service. You never leave Chick-fil-A without hearing at least once, “My Pleasure”.
So we parked in front of the Collinsville Tag Agency. The sign on the door of the rather rundown building says they close for lunch from 1pm – 2pm. We had 10 minutes. We both BOLT from the truck. There are just a couple of folks in front of us and three clerks behind the wall. We had high hopes with all the new training they’d had yesterday PLUS it being a small town friendly place. No eye contact. A monotone… “fill this out…they make us do this now”. “That’ll be $43.00.” “Step against the wall for your picture.” Clearly they hated their jobs. And they hated us. And sometime during getting my picture done she yelled, “Will somebody lock those front doors!!” Hubby and I both like to visit with folks. We tried. No response. No eye contact. After hubby’s photo, she handed me my license and moved to unlock the front door for us. I mentioned we needed to wait for his license to process first. If looks could kill. I think Chick-fil-A has their work cut out for them with this project!
Our next stop was the Sheriff’s office where I picked up my concealed carry license. For anyone that has issue with this…well….I don’t care. I’ve waited almost six months to make this happen. That made it an “event” for me. My point in this post is that it is sad that I felt a more warm and fuzzy welcome in a county sherrif’s office than in a tag agency! 🙂
And now to the last outing of the day? Well, it’s clearly my favorite. The BEST customer service I’ve ever received and if given the opportunity, I will do it again. We went to our local grocery store. I love this store. New. Clean. Great Selection. And guess who was right out front waiting on me when I got there? Owasso’s own country singer, Garth Brooks. And yes, this was my third photo of the day. The Oklahoma kindness I am used to was found here. And it was most certainly “My Pleasure”!
Wherever you go today, even though it IS Monday and maybe you don’t love where you are right now or what you are doing….try kindness anyway. You could change two lives that way. Theirs and Yours. ♥
stuff i tell my sister 