I Finally Found the Humor

"The power of laughter is an amazing thing!"  ---  I say this all the time and I truly believe it!  I'm most amazed when people are able to find their laughter in sad or difficult times.  I'm a firm believer that sometimes it's the only thing that gets us through these situations.  As you can guess, being a believer of this, I try to find the humor in most things.  Mostly I'm successful - on occasion, I'm not.  And sometimes, it's just delayed.

I was driving home on Easter Sunday after a long, worrisome, relieving, fun, tiring and happy weekend.  I stopped at a stoplight and instead of waiting for the light to turn green, I looked both ways and then drove through it.  I didn't do it on purpose.  Clearly the weekend had caught up to me and all I could think about was that I would be home in under five minutes.  The nice policeman behind me had a different idea.

I can't mock him - he was one of the nicest guys I've met in a while.  Of course he asked for my license, registration and insurance (I couldn't find my insurance card - great!).  Luckily for me, he was "fresh out of tickets" and was going to let me off with a warning.  He went back to his car and when he came back, he said to me, "I'm afraid we hit a little snag.  Your license has been revoked."  WHAT???  "I don't know why yet, but we're going to be here a while."

After calling in back up (because he now had to give me a ticket for driving with an invalid license), he left and I met nice cop number two.  After another long wait, he tells me that it's because of a ticket that I paid late --- in 2005!!!  Yes, it's true, my license was revoked SIX years ago and I had no idea!  He asked me to pull into the park and ride and call someone to come get me, because I'm not allowed to drive without a valid license.  And if I do, and I get caught, I'll get arrested.  Lovely!  I asked if there was any way he could just follow me home - because, again - I live FIVE minutes away.  He took a look at my girlies in the back seat and agreed - love him!

Monday morning I called the DMV and the good news is that I can go to reinstate my license as soon as I want.  The bad news is that it's not going to be cheap and I have to retake the test.  I'll be honest - this sort of freaked me out.  I mean, I haven't "reviewed" the driver's handbook since I was sixteen!  I found it online and spent the night studying.

Up to this point, I've had friends say, "That's such a great story, I want a great story."  "That's a lot of drama, but it's funny drama." and "Don't you feel good that you didn't have a meltdown?"  No, no and NO!  I kept my composure, but I just wanted to scream!  It's true that I didn't have a meltdown, but I wasn't feeling "good" about any of this.  Like I don't have enough to do - now I have to jump through hoops, pay more money and figure out how to get my kids from point A to point B?  "It's not a great story!  It's not funny!  I want someone else to fix it!!!"  (Have you noticed the lack of laughter?)

On to Tuesday.  My neighbor took me to the DMV this morning.  Time was ticking and I was getting more and more nervous about picking up Isabelle on time.  My number finally gets called.  (whew)  She takes my money and hands me the test.  I only got one wrong - woohoo!  Then she tells me the good news ..... I also have to re-take the driving test.  I have to make an appointment and the wait is 1 1/2 - 2 weeks out.  Here's the deal: if your license is invalid for more than a year, then you have to retake ALL parts of the test.

So I say to her, "So I can't drive until I take the driving test?"  And she says (in her "I've said this a million times" voice), "You do have a permit now, you can drive as long as there is a licensed driver 21 years of age or older in your vehicle.  It's like you're sixteen again."  And there it was - my inability to keep a straight face.  And just like that, I finally found the humor in this story.

I have to say, I'm glad I did.  I spent the rest of the day laughing every time I thought of it.  And today was a much more pleasant day than yesterday was.  So, if I may be preachy - try to find the funny side of your setbacks.  It's much more enjoyable than stewing about them.  And if you see me walking through the neighborhood between now and next Wednesday - it may not be just because I'm training for Grays Peak!