If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice
- Rush
"Can you come meet me at the DPS office? I don't know what to do."
"You walk up to the counter and tell the lady you need to renew your license since you just turned 18. She knows what to do."
"Which counter? There's more than one line. I'm confused."
So I spent the afternoon at the DPS office helping my daughter renew her license. She could have asked someone which line to stand in, but she doesn't like to talk to strangers. Maybe it's my fault. Did I overdo the stranger danger thing?
I helped her get in the line at the counter with the big sign above it that said, "Check in here." While in line she informed me she wasn't going to register to vote because someone told her it costs money. Her history teacher gets a FAIL. Poll taxes are illegal and when I studied history that was kind of a big deal. It shouldn't surprise me they would want to leave out incriminating details like that since it is now the "triangle trade" instead of the slave trade. The lady behind the counter and I convinced her to check yes and keep her options open. In the U.S., you have the option to vote if you register, but you are not required. If you don't register, you cannot vote.
We were given a number and directed to have a seat and wait until it was called. While we were waiting, she sat 4 chairs away from me, not talking to anyone while I struck up a conversation with anyone who was willing to talk to me. The lady next to me said her mother used to sell Avon. She left with one of my brochures and I left with her contact information to add to my email list. Hooray! A potential new customer!
After more than an hour's wait, our number was finally called to go stand in another line, hand in her paperwork, pay her fee, read the eye chart, and get her new photo taken. While standing in the second line, I noticed she had checked the no box for becoming an organ donor.
"What do you think you're going to need them for after you're dead?"
"I don't know, but that's weird."
"It's weird to save someone's life with something that's no longer of any use to you?"
"Yes."
"Well you know if they call me I'm donating your organs."
"Well I'm kinda hoping that when I die you'll already be dead."
I'm hoping I go first, too.
10 comments:
smiles. yeah i guess i would rather it that way as well...but really what am i going to do with them you know...
DPS office? I am sorry.
I do love me some Rush though.
It's a right of passage. It the past she would have had to hop on a wagon train. Cross snake infested wilderness. Hack out her 180 acres, breed a gaggle of kids. Now, she will on a regular basis as a grown adult have to face bureaucrats.
BTW, that's why her history lessons are a bit lax. If she knew what her ancestors fought for, dear heavens, she might expect it for herself.
here in Oz we have to register and we have to turn up at the polling booth...we dont have to actually vote, but since youre already there...
You may not always like her decisions..but she's all grown up and they're her decisions to make!
I have three girls, the youngest does LOTS of things that I disapprove of..but it's her life! I just hope she lives long enough to change her mind
@Brian Miller: I hope I go decades before she does.
@Oilfield Trash: Me, too. The Trees is one of the best songs ever written.
@Vince: Snakes were the least of the pioneers' worries. I have much respect for them.
@Tempo: The ultimate decision has always been hers in most cases...even before she turned 18. Her phone call makes it clear she still needs my guidance at least a little bit.
Of course she does... and she knows she does,the trick is not actually saying it but just doing it. D3 scares me sometimes with how little she seems to actually understand things but we go on playing this game where she's all big and independent then calls her daddy when she needs help.
Teenage girls are so funny! Sometimes they want your help and sometimes they don't.
I hope she'll re-think the organ donor thing. And yes, our kids are supposed to outlive us!
@gayle: They really are! I'm happy she doesn't always need me, but happy she still does sometimes.
@Kelly: It's really not up to us. Even though I checked yes and my license says I want to be an organ donor, they won't take them unless my relatives release them. I hope she donates mine like I want. And yes, she needs to outlive me!
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