I smiled at the DMV this morning (but can I look cool without a neck?)

Yesterday, I tried to buy beer at the grocery store. I was politely turned down by a cashier who noticed that my driver’s license was expired. Mad, you say? Of course I wasn’t. I can live without beer. This means that I’ve been buying liquor with that expired license for two months and no one told me. Which means I have also been driving around with an expired license for two months. Not that it has been a problem yet, but I don’t want it to be, so I was thankful for the heads-up.

I went to the DMV yesterday, too, to get it taken care of. But once I got the form, I realized I didn’t have enough cash to pay and they don’t take credit cards. So I filled out the form this morning at home and then went back to the DMV with it after dropping my husband off at work (we share a car).

While I was driving my husband to work, I asked him, “What kind of smile should I have in my picture?”

“Show me,” he said.

So, I gave him a couple smiles. My big funny one. Then my close lipped smile. And one half way in between.

“You should definitely show some teeth.”

“I’m self-conscious about my teeth,” I answered.

“Well you look better when you show a little teeth.” He always says that, any time I’m smiling for the camera. I don’t believe him. But at the same time, I trust him because he looks at me way more than I do.

The DMV clerk who filed the paperwork on my license renewal was super friendly and kind. It was early, so there wasn’t time yet for the kind of stress that builds up inside the DMV office by the end of the day. I got to have a new photo taken for my new license. This is a relief in the greatest way. The last time I had a license photo taken I wasn’t prepared at all, my half-dreaded hair was a total mess, I had no make-up on, and I was flustered because my two young children were running circles around me making way too much noise and being way too rowdy for the DMV office. That was five years ago. Absolutely anything would be an improvement.

At least, I hope that is the case. I smiled with a little teeth showing for the photo today. It felt awkward and I probably looked like a total dork. But a total dork with straight clean hair and make-up on. The DMV clerk showed me his own photo. It wasn’t good considering he is a person of average attractiveness, which didn’t come across in the picture. Apparently, because of facial recognition software, the photos nowadays are much closer cropped. They literally don’t even show a person’s neck. And it’s hard to look cool without a neck.

I can’t wait to get my new card in the mail!

How do you look in your driver’s license photo? Do you have a great DMV story? Tell me about it. Or blog about it and leave a link in the comments section.