Mother comes to the defense of Minden DMV

This is in response to the letter of Nov. 15 in The Record-Courier written by James F. Joseph. I wish to assure you that my daughter was not hatched in a cocoon. She came into the world in the usual way, born to legitimately married husband and wife, so there is no question about her ancestry.

To clarify my position on your letter with its rude implications toward employees of the Minden Department of Motor Vehicles, my daughter is an employee there. One of the many highly qualified technicians thoroughly trained to see that you receive your license and /or car plates in an acceptable legal manner. You sir, have insulted each and every one of these people, by making remarks about their ancestry, work ethics and abilities to solve the multitude of complex problems that they face each and every day. I will accept your apology in this column and I hope that it will be soon.

Furthermore, "shut up" in not an acceptable term to be used in a business, anywhere. If the manager at the Minden DMV had ever heard an employee using that term, they would have been required to apologize to the person-unless, as sometimes happens, a customer is becoming rude and loud and disrupting the office and other customers, an effort will be made to quiet them. In order that every customer is properly serviced, a routine must be adhered to. Take a number and be seated and wait your turn. You do that at Wal-Mart, medical offices, airports and banks. No matter "who" you are. If the president of the U.S. came in the office, he would be required to take a number and wait his turn, like anyone else. The person in front is a technician, at their desk is the only important person at the moment.

If you were at Wal-Mart, let's say, you wouldn't push aside everyone ahead of you, saying that you were more important than them and had to get out of the store immediately and demand to be served right now. In this world, as it is now, we all know that we must wait our turn, no matter how long it is or how impatient we get. We live in a dangerous world, confronted by terrorism all around us. The employees at any DMV are trained to do a confidential and thorough job for each customer. All documents must be legal and in order. This is their legal obligation to you, under the "Homeland Security Act," to protect us from terrorism and people illegally entering this country and obtaining identification for questionable objectives.

While I'm here-in response to the two other "letters" that appeared in The Record-Courier: As with any other person who wishes to be factual before they open their mouth on a subject with which they are not familiar or a job that they haven't done, I went to the Minden DMV and observed their operation and made notes. While the phone doesn't take a priority over the people waiting in line, they are required to answer it in three rings. Have you never called the DMV (in advance of going there) to get information about the things that concern your car title, drivers license and etc.? There is no secret "back office" manned by people that do nothing but answer phones, enter information in the computers and do the filing. The employees that you see up front do all that (and more), all the while processing information of the person sitting in front of them. Talk about multi-tasking, All this must be done accurately, legally and still maintain a pleasant attitude through eight hours of work.

Let me ask you this: We have all worked somewhere, at some time in our lives-during the course of the day, have you never turned to a fellow employee and made a personal remark or joked about something only they would understand? If you haven't, you're a rare, nose to the grindstone type person. Yes, the employees at the Minden DMV, talk among themselves-but from what I could observe, they had papers in their hands or were helping each other on the computer. They don't have time for idle gossip.

In reference to their "breaks" - the federal law requires all employees anywhere, to have a 10 minute break in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon, with a half hour for lunch. In no way could they have a "break" between each customer, that is literally impossible. They must have at least 50 or more customers each day. At that rate, there would be no one at the front desk to help you. There is always a technician at the front desk, two or more, and a technician giving driving tests.

A word to the gentleman that complained about almost having to "open a vein" in order to prove citizenship. If you think it is bad now, wait until the new law goes into effect requiring the "Federal Real I.D. Act." If this had been in place before, we might not have had a 9-11." We will all be required to have our documents in order, ready to prove citizenship at any time, not just at the DMV. An organized person would always be ready and think ahead-and not gripe if they had to make several trips when one would do. Buy a folder, find your birth certificate and related items and keep them in one place. Don't blame someone else for your inefficiency and poor planning. The DMV laws are there for your protection, not to make your life miserable, but safer.

Once I identified myself as the mother of someone that works at the DMV, I know that you will consider my remarks as being biased and protective. This would be correct to some extent. But, consider that I am also a customer at the Minden DMV and am required to do the same things there that you do. I've waited long times too and have been impatient, but I learned a long time ago, that anger gets you nowhere. I know that when they get to me, that they will do the best job possible, under stressful conditions, answer all my questions accurately and that I will leave there with a legal title, plates and license. If there is a problem later and something is wrong, they will work with me to make it right.

It is easy to criticize when you're not the one doing the job. May I suggest that you seek out the facts next time, as I did, before making a public display of your lack of knowledge. Also, the next time that you are in Minden DMV, take a look around at the flowers and cards that these hard-working people receive from appreciative customers-from as far away as Fallon, Lake Tahoe and other outlying areas.

I would like to see "Letters to the Editor" from the "other side." Those that are happy with the service at the Minden DMV. The Record-Courier has always been impartial and presented both sides of a controversy. I will trust you to continue to do so.

Gayle Fees is a Minden resident.