I sold myself to the Valley of the Sun... wait, actually I bought it for $117.76

I believe that frustration is my least favorite emotion. Therefore, I usually try to minimize its existence in my life. I avoid driving in traffic. I change the radio station when the grammatically incorrect* country songs come on. I sometimes spend extra on pre-washed lettuce. However, potentially frustrating situations cannot always be avoided, so a much better tactic has been to learn how not to get frustrated.

Today I needed to go to the DMV, no wait, the MVD, (Arizona may be dyslexic) to get my Arizona driver's license and plate for my car. I figured that 8 months was long enough to admit that I live here. Anyway, since my experiences with these kinds of outings have always been long and grueling, I mentally prepared myself to be there for about 3 hours and for it to be hot and smelly (just in case). I took a book and hunkered down. So when the whole ordeal only took an hour and a half and went relatively smoothly, I was pleasantly surprised. Needless to say, I think I was the exception.

As I was sitting reading in my cool, non-stinky air, I had the distinct pleasure of overhearing a man yelling at the poor customer service girl about how he'd been waiting forever and it shouldn't take this long he only needed a driver's license and could he talk to a supervisor blah blahdity blah. I have never understood people like this. Could he not see the 120 other people waiting to be helped before him? I'm guessing it was less that he was blind and more that, like so many others, he just thought his time was more valuable than everyone else's time. I experience this a lot at the restaurant. My favorite is the business man in a suit (sorry to be sexist, but let's face it, it's always men) who comes flying in the door with his briefcase in hand, seats himself, and declares in my general direction that he's in a hurry. Since I work at a hotel I feel that the necessary response is, "You should have gotten up earlier so you wouldn't have to hurry," or "I hear McDonalds is speedy," but I usually keep these to myself. Instead, I hide in the kitchen until his eggs are ready to avoid frustration and overcook his toast.

Now that I think about it, and at the risk of defending the angry dude, I really don't have any idea what all of those people could possibly have been doing at the DMV/MVD anyway. Arizona licenses don't expire until you're 65. I don't plan on going back until 2050.

*I find it hilarious that in the first draft I accidentally typed "grammatically uncorrect."