McGriddle & the DMV

The DMV

I just received my new Social Security Number last week, so now I was finally able to head to the illustrious DMV to request a driver's license from the state of Connecticut.

Having heard all the horror stories (real and the fictitious courtesy of Seinfeld, the Simpsons, etc.) about ridiculous wait times and poor customer service we made sure we were fully armed and prepared for battle.

We brought with us:

• EVERY piece of identification ever issued to me (passport, birth certificate, lease agreement, piece of mail to our new address, etc.)
• Cash - for bribes. Just kidding - the DMV only takes cash or personal checks and I don't have my new checks yet (a story for another day no less)
• my iPOD
• a variety of reading material

We also did our homework and researched which DMV locations were known for faster service. Interestingly enough, this local article evaluating the Connecticut DMV wait times in mentions an illegal license-selling ring that was busted in 2004 as one of the reasons behind slow service. Call me naive, but I can hardly imagine anything of the sort in Ontario!

Christopher also insisted that we wake up early on Saturday so we could avoid the rush (they open at 8am). So, we dutifully set our alarm to 6:45am since it takes 45 min to drive to Waterbury, the DMV office in CT with the reputation of the shortest wait times.

Now, I know that Canadians like to complain about their Ministry of Transportation woes, and they often liken them to the American DMVs. I just want to provide some perspective on this. The GTA has a population of 4,682,891 which is served by over 37 Vehicle License Issuing Offices and service kiosks. In comparison the state of Connecticut has a population of 3,510,297 and 10 full-service offices, 5 photo-license centers, & 4 satellite offices with limited services. Even Wikipedia has a section on the DMV reputation in pop culture!

All complaints aside, my first DMV experience was rather lackluster. I was in and out in about an hour, but I have to go back sometime next week because Immigration needs to review my application, and they don't really work on Saturdays. Oddly enough, the officer seemed rather surprised when I told him that I wasn't going to wait and that I would just come back another time. And this was after he told me that 9 times out of 10 Immigration won't get back to you on the same day, and if they do, it'll be at least 2 hours. As if I was going to waste a precious day of my weekend sitting around at the DMV!

McGriddle

Because we got up so early to go to the DMV, we left the house without having breakfast. After we were finished at the DMV my stomach decided that it needed to be fed. Since we had another errand to run at the bank back in West Hartford by noon, we only had time for something quick. I then decided that I was going to try my first McGriddle.

When the McGriddle was introduced back in 2003 I was skeptical to say the least. Now, I generally enjoy my breakfast bacon or sausage with syrup. There's something about the salty-sweet combination that my tastebuds like, similar to prosciutto ham and melon, mmmm :) But what I couldn't get over was the syrup-egg-processed cheese combination. Yuk! I can't even fathom how anyone would like this, but I had 2 roommates in university (out of 5 girls living in the house) that I believe liked syrup with their eggs, so if this is a representative sample, there is a fairly large demographic that would enjoy the McGriddle. Which would explain why the McGriddle has done so well and continues to be sold in McDonald's across the nation. Having passed the test of time on the McDonald's menu I decided that I needed to give it a chance.

My first bite was actually okay. It was soft and warm and it didn't make me gag (which was what I was fully expecting). About halfway through I had to take it apart and eat the contents separately (I had ordered the sausage-egg & cheese) because by this point my brain had communicated to my tastebuds that they weren't too fond of these flavor combinations, but that on their own they would be palatable.

Would I order it again? Probably not. If I were ever to order another McGriddle it would probably be the sausage-only one. No cheese and egg, which as I had expected, was what I didn't care for.

All in all, my first McGriddle and my first DMV trip were both quite underwhelming. I was fully expecting the DMV to either be surprisingly painless or unimaginably horrid and I thought I would either love the McGriddle or want to spit it out. Neither was the case this fateful morning, but I certainly can't complain about that!