State of North Carolina: 643, Becci: 0

So we made our fourth visit to the North Carolina DMV today and I still don't have a driver's license. And it is not because I haven't passed the test. In fact, I haven't even taken it.

Apparently, the state of North Carolina trumps the federal government when it comes to verifying identities. On our first trip there, I brought with me all the items I thought I needed...my Wisconsin driver's license, a passport, proof of my insurance, and a checkbook.

No go. I was sent away to find something to verify my social security number.

Easy enough, I thought, and I returned an hour later with a copy of my W-2 in hand. At that point, I'd memorized all the road signs mentioned in the book and learned about the rules on watching, betting or loaning a car for prearranged racing (??) certain I was ready for the test.

No go. My federal documents all stated my name to be Rebecca J. Menghini and the folks at the DMV wanted to know what the J stood for. I know now that I should have said "Just J." Instead, my midwestern upbringing and penchant for honesty rose to the surface and I said "Jo." Well...that was it, I needed a Social Security card or a birth certificate to prove that I was who I said I was, Rebecca JO Menghini.

So, I spent much of the afternoon on the phone with the Portage County Register of Deeds, who incidentally, will not mail you a copy of your birth certificate unless they receive a written request, but who will happily deliver one to anyone who walks into their Stevens Point office. Furthermore, the kind lady who works there could not be bribed to tell me whether my birth certificate read J. or Jo, nor could I convince her that she'd not really be telling me anything illegal if she simply stated whether the middle word in my name had one letter or two.

I then called the Social Security Administration, which gives you more automated options even than the DMV has requirements. After forty minutes on hold though, I spoke to a kind man named Daniel who told me that my registered name with them was Rebecca J. Menghini. That happened about seven seconds AFTER I re-discovered my social security card inside an old purse.

So today I skipped out of the office at lunch time bound and determined to get my own shrinky-dink looking license (Heather, incidentally, has had SLIGHTLY better luck than me, as it only took her three tries. She has given me hints for the test though!). When I arrived though, the kind folks in their blue uniforms told me that despite the fact that I'd now produced three forms of federal identification, I was still not eligible, as they didn't know my middle name.

I must legally change my name in the state of North Carolina. I guess I'm changing it from Rebecca J. Menghini to Rebecca J. Menghini. Yep, they look alike, but for some reason, a notarized affidavit saying that my middle initial is J. is better than a passport, a social security card and a W-2 saying that. Or something like that.

The good news is that when I'm through with all this rigamaroll, I get to go to a different DMV office to get North Carolina license plates. I think mine might read "Just J."