Monday, August 02, 2010

Carry Me Back to Ole DMV...

From the Department of Unfortunate, If Nevertheless Clever Acronyms, comes this one: "The DMV" as a term to refer to the Washington, DC, metro area.

To those of us who live here, our area is variously known as "The National Capital Region," "The Washington Metropolitan Area," "The Chocolate City" (a now-passe reference to the area's large black population) or - in the optimistic terms of the beautiful local Christmas song Christmas Eve in Washington, - "America's Hometown." You could also use the preferred Republican term: "That Evil Place Run By Godless Liberal Democrats That's Driving the Country Straight to Hell," but most people can't say that without the appropriate amount of incoherent spluttering rage.

The term "The DMV" emerged from the local hip-hop scene, and has been spreading slowly to other strata of society - it means "District of Columbia - Maryland - Virginia." You can read about it in this article from the Washington Post.

Short, to the point, and clever to be sure ... but, of course, it also calls to mind the unutterable joy of the real DMV - the Department of Motor Vehicles, where residents of the three jurisdictions enjoy many long hours in the company of hundreds of their closest friends while waiting to learn that they don't have the right forms, that the next available clerk just closed his/her window for a break, or that they're on a terrorist watch list ...

This is what it usually looks like on the inside...

And that's on a good day.

I suppose it's appropriate. After all, just as we wait endlessly at the DMV, so do we wait endlessly for things to happen around here:

- We wait for Congress to get off it's dead backside and actually do something worthwhile;

- We wait for Metro to get serious about fixing all the problems with safety, maintenance, and overall service; and,

- We wait for hours in traffic jams that spring up out of nowhere, and then disappear for no apparent reason.

I could write more, but I need to get ready to go to another part of The DMV and make some money so I can afford to live here. Don't wait up.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

A few years ago I heard it called
"Mar-VA-Wash". Maybe DMV is better than that

KathyA said...

I supposed DMV is better than DMZ.
Did I ever tell you about the time my husband carried a screaming me out of a DMV in College Park?? This was in 1983 before they heard about the concept of customer service. Okay, they HEARD about it...haven't necessarily done anything about it.

Bandit said...

I have to get my car plates renewed this month. In MO. you are required to have a safety check, emissions test, proof of insurance, and a paid personal property tax receipt. Then go stand in line and hope all the paperwork is in order.

Mike said...

I'll have to beat up Bandit for that last part. You don't have to stand in line anymore. Online! The whole thing. And they mail you your new plates or tags.

If you wait until the last day, you print out an 'I did it' reciept to show the cops if you get pulled over before your new plates arrive.

Wv: catermit - The glove used by caterers to handle hot food.