Tales from DMV: Trivia While You Wait

Watch out, Jeopardy! fans - the NY DMV may be screwing with you, as tale of two cities' joey details a trip to the Herald Square DMV. Since his and other would-be licensed drivers have to wait in line for hours at that location, the DMV installed a LCD ticker of trivia to amuse people and prevent them from plotting an uprising. joey, however, has some problems with it:

How fun! Or so I thought. One of the trivia questions went thusly:
In what war was Francis Scott Key inspired by "bombs bursting in air" to write the Star-spangled Banner?
An easy one, thought I. T'was the War of 1812, of course! But no dice, Joey, because the choices given were (a) Revolutionary War (b) Civil War and (c) Spanish-American War. I instantly doubted the quality and foundation of my extremely-expensive education. How could the DMV fool me?
Well, the answer was given: (a) Revolutionary War. Francis Scott Key wrote the song after he saw the flag still raised after a battle against the British in 1814.

And, Governor Pataki, you say you want to make the NY State education system the best in the country? For shame!

The Smithsonian on the Star-Spangled Banner. And Gothamist's readers on other good DMV locations to go to, besides Herald Square which might be the Manhattan location from hell.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on May 10, 2004 11:36 AM

Comments [rss]

Linus

I recently spent a thrilling afternoon at the Brooklyn DMV, where I got to watch the computers go down all across the State. Not much gets done when that happens. And it was a Friday afternoon, too.

The LCD ticker in Brooklyn is not native to Brooklyn, though: it gives all sorts of helpful New Jersey telephone numbers in case you want to report this and that. Hmph. Whatta revoltin' development.

Beavis

All y'all don't know shit about how bad it was before DMVs were even invented. Back in the glory days of the 1870s, people just wandered around aimlessly on foot.

joe s

The 125th St. DMV moved a few blocks east last year. It only took about 10 minutes to renew my license.

Candicissima

My mom, the public servant, clued me into the tip that the best time to go is the afternoon on a Friday. They can't leave until you do, so the line will move so quickly that your head will spin.

Travis

All y'all don't know shit about how bad the DMV was. Back in the glory days of the 1970s before the automation of the process, taking a full-day off for DMV issues was the norm and the buildings were as Dickensian as you can get in an urban environment. Nowadays there are still slow parts, but it's still a jillion times better than it once was.

nkw

Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) was a little young to be writing song lyrics during the Revolutionary War!

BTW, Key is an ancestor of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, better known as F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940).

dahl

In my experience, Herald Square is about ten times plesanter than either 125th st, where it took me close to 8 hrs to get my learners permit, or the DMV downtown, where it took over 4 hours to register my car.