This is How I Know He Loves Me

Every year around this time I find myself in the same predicament.  My birthday is in June, but I sort of…well…forget to renew my car registration.  I mean, June is a busy month, right?  So much going on, plus it’s my birthday and anniversary month, how am I supposed to remember to renew my tag?  And it’s on the back of my car so there are some days that I never even see it.  It’s supposed to be renewed on my birthday, but I rarely give it a thought until the end of the month.  Sure, they send me a reminder at the end of April, but who plans that far ahead?  And that’s just a friendly reminder anyway.  I have time.  But before I know it, it’s June 30th and I’m sweating bullets because I didn’t renew.  Only this year, I didn’t realize it until a few days into July.  Yes, folks, it’s getting worse, not better.  And it drives my husband crazy.  Mr. Perfect, he always renews early.

The bad part of all of this, you know, besides driving around and risking getting a ticket, is that my homeowner’s association really frowns on you having an expired tag on your car. They’ve hired a security company that actually makes monthly (or maybe even weekly?) rounds in our neighborhood, posting tickets and warnings on cars.  They tow too.  In years past, I’ve argued with them regarding whether they can even legally tow for expired tags, but my arguments all fell on deaf ears.  It’s just not worth my time or legal training.

So this morning I left my house a little early and headed over to renew my registration.  Our county is kind of strange though.  I used to go to the courthouse and renew, but a few years ago, they removed the tag offices from the courthouses and placed them in private agencies.  You now have to go to the private agencies or the tax collector’s office to renew.  These private agencies add their own fees on top of the normal county renewal rates and are generally known for being rude and unprofessional.  You have the option to renew online, but I didn’t have time for that (please see paragraph #1).  And the tax collector?  Who voluntarily goes there?  Not me.  Tag office it was.

I got to the private tag office about 20 minutes after they opened and grabbed a number from the dispenser.  It was then that I looked down and realized I was #51 and there were 32 people in front of me.  The lack of proper air conditioning became apparent around this same time, but maybe that’s because it’s a room designed for 20 that was occupied by 50+ people.  Ugh.  I sat down to wait and my husband (who didn’t have to work until later in the day) called to tell me he was bringing Starbucks over.  Such a nice guy.  But about 10 minutes later, I realized they hadn’t called so much as one of the 32 people in front of me.  Not a single person.  This was clearly going to take the rest of my natural life.  I just don’t have this kind of time, people.  If only I had renewed online like Mr. Perfect.  I decided it was time to leave and I would have to figure out another way to renew my tag or pacify my homeowner’s association.  There had to be another way.

Just as I was about to get into my car, my husband pulled up.  He handed me a beverage, a breakfast sandwich, and asked why I was leaving.  I explained the 32 people in front of me and lack of proper air conditioning and he responded with, “I wonder if my county place can do it…Follow me.”  He explained generally the direction we were going and I followed him to the county’s tax collectors office.  There were 5 people in front of me when I got there.  I was in and out in 20 minutes, tops.  And Mr. Perfect?  He sat right next to me in the tax collector’s office and made pleasant conversation while we waited.  He even introduced me to a few of the people he remembered from when he had to switch his plates over from Georgia plates to Florida plates.  They all looked a little freaked out that he remembered them, but still it was a nice touch.

So this is how I know he loves me – He spent his morning off with me at the tax collectors office when clearly this was a problem that I created.  He even cleaned my license plate off before I stuck the new registration sticker on it.  And he didn’t even mention that I should have renewed online weeks ago.

It’s the little things…