Hello from Gary with a rant post.

On November 19, 2006 I wrote a post with the title “Dealing With Bureaucrats”. In that post I implied that, when approached with a proper attitude and appropriate understanding, the bureaucrats you deal with during the processes involved in getting your Russian bride to America and seeing to her adjustment would prove to be responsive and supportive people. I stand by what I wrote then and also claim that Alla and I have had very “clear sailing” through the bureaucratic maze - - until today.

Here’s what happened. Alla was scheduled to take her driving test today for her California driver’s license. I scheduled the test date and location for her and in doing so selected her test location to be in a small town a few miles north of us rather than in the small city, 10 miles to the south. I made this selection very purposefully. Why? Because I knew who the examiner was at that southern city’s DMV office.

In July of 2001 I suffered a major stroke. State law requires that the primary physician of a stroke victim must report the event to the department of motor vehicles who in turn revokes the driver’s license of the stroke victim because of possible neurological damage which may render the victim unsafe to drive. Driving privileges can be restored only after a stroke victim reapplies for a license and has taken and passed a driving exam administered by the DMV. So after the required elapsed time (I forget how long - 6 months?) I applied for my license and scheduled my driving test - - at the city 10 miles to the south.

The guy that was my examination officer turned out to be the most misanthropic, cruel, beastly-hearted S.O.B. on plant earth. His entire demeanor was set on intimidation to the point of extreme verbal abuse. He was beyond compare to anything I’ve ever experienced before. And I’ll tell you, as a guy that’s been on this planet for more than 6 decades, I’ve seen some @#$%^&, but not like this creep dished out during a simple driving test. I’ve got over 1,000,000 miles of accident free driving and yet without cause, this a-hole tried to fail me on my test. He didn’t succeed, I got my license and moved on in my life thinking, “thank God I’m done with that vile, foul-natured, person”.

And Lo - - He’s here again!! Apparently, enough complaints had been received about this jerk that he  was transferred to a smaller office. When Alla went for her test today, her examiner was Mr. You Know Who. I’d like to vent here and describe more of his true nature but that would require several more paragraphs. I’m thinking that the short version will tell it all - - prejudiced low-life !!

After less than a minute into her test, and after ascertaining that she was Russian, he failed her and told her to return to the DMV office. No license, try again some other time.

I’m not certain yet how to deal with this. Alla has been driving for close to a year. And while she’s got much to learn about driving, I feel more safe with her than I would with many of the “yokels” I see on the road.

It’s in my mind that perhaps a P.I./lawyer combo might be appropriate to check into the whole situation. There’s definitely been prejudice involved.  Give me some ideas/feedback. What do you think? HELP.

BTU, Gary.

P.S. I know I promised another installment on the “Visa Problems series”.  - - Trust me
(yea I know, the key g-bye phrase of the century) - -  O.K., no later than 5/3/07. Fair?, O.K, Done Deal!! 

P.P..S. For some more background on this topic of your Russian bride driving, see my November 29, 2006 post.

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