Gotta love NY

New York State is one interesting place to live. I truly do love the beauties and charm of Upstate. And Upstaters have a sense of pride that's endearing. For example, you can't call this place "New England." That's for all those OTHER states surrounding us. New York is simply, New York or "Upstate" if you wish to clarify yourself from the city.

It's gorgeous in the summer and breathtaking in the autumn. It never gets too hot and there's a festival for everything: the lilac festival, the arts festival, the apple festival. Sometimes it feels like we've landed in some sort of Americana Norman Rockwell painting. And most days, we love it.




There's just some stuff about this state that bugs me. It started last year when I went to girls' camp and found out there were about 50 billion laws for attending there. Not camp rules, mind you, but laws. It seemed like every time I turned around, someone was saying, "Oh, you shouldn't do that. It's New York State Law that...." The fact that there are actually state laws on the books that say you have to wear water shoes in the lake or that 2 adults have to stand on either side of the 5 foot-wide road when kids are crossing started drive me insane. I'm all for safety, but doesn't common sense get to prevail from time to time? Then I started to wonder, who makes these laws anyway? Is there some sort of girls' camp law-making-committee? And then another committee to enforce that other commitee's laws? Let your mind go for a moment and you start to realize why New York State has the highest taxes in the Union. All those laws take time and money. Sort of makes you go hmmm, doesn't it?


My exasperation has only worsened. It took 4 trips to the DMV to get my driver's license. That's right. 4 trips. Why? Well, first they needed original documents of every document I've ever owned. And I think they needed a photocopy of my right elbow or something. When I finally collected every single piece of evidence I have, including a letter of recommendation from my great-grandfather, I was denied a license anyway because my Utah license (renewed in April) didn't say "renewal." Our conversation was as follows:
The DMV lady: "You need to be driving for 6 months before New York will issue you a license."
Me: "I've been driving for almost 20 years."
DMV lady: "This license doesn't say that. It says it was issued on April 5 of this year"

That was September 25. My 6 months was up October 5. She invited me to come back in 10 days, and I went away without a license. Just for spite I didn't show up again until after Christmas. Yeah, I showed them, didn't I?


I guess the part that bugs me most of all is the way this beauracratic mentality works its way into the minds and behavior of every day people. The prevailing idea here is, you gotta have a form, and you gotta fill it out. In fact, the DMV lady told me that if I wanted, I could fill out another form, send it to Utah, and they'd accept it as proof that I'd been driving for 20 years. Never mind that by the time I filled it out, sent it, and got it back, it would be 3 weeks later and past my 6 month deadline. Never mind that some times people tell you the truth, and that you can't fill that out on a form.

My high school students seem particularly vulnerable. Raised in a world of red tape and form filling out, sometimes the possiblity that there is another, easier way is absolutely beyond them. One day when I grumbled about the attendance forms at school, a student picked up on it and said, "What do you mean? Is there another way to do it?" Oh yes, Mary Kate, there's a much easier way. The easier way is faster, typically computerized, and involves a lot less forms.

Last week, 3-4 of my students were participating in a day of silence to bring attention to a particular cause they felt was important. They refused to participate in class. I tried to explain that while I appreciated the fact they were taking a stand (I've long railed against the dangers of apathy), but really, it's okay to participate. In fact, they had to participate: after all, we've got an AP test looming!


"Oh, no" piped up Lloyd. "Melanie doesn't have to talk today. She has a form that says she doesn't, see?"



Do they really have "Day of Silence" forms in addition to everything else? Apparently, they do. And in New York, if you got the form, then you've got the golden ticket.


Grrrrr.