The “convenience” of getting a Real ID

No one said it was going to be easy. But, no one said it would be this hard.

The government has said, ‘We’re going to make it more complicated and difficult to get on an airplane.’ In order to fly, you either need a passport or one of those Real IDs. Supposedly, it will make the skies safer. Call me skeptical, but whatever.

I do have a passport, so I should have been set, but I also have a tendency to try to make things much more difficult than necessary. I wanted the Real ID.

I think I began this adventure in March. I assumed two months before the deadline would be plenty of time. There’s that assume thing again.

There is a DMV office five minutes from the house. I again assumed I should start there. When I went over there, I was told I needed an appointment—of course, we did. You can make them online—of course, you can. I went home to give it a try—NOTHING!! You were kicked off the site before getting anywhere close. I went back to the office to tell them about this—apparently, they had heard this before. They said keep trying—eventually you’ll get through. Eventually never happened.

Then I heard that there were offices open on Saturday that were dedicated to taking Real ID applications. The closest one was about a half-hour away. Fine. I drove over to the mall where it was located. It looked like the parking lot was jam-packed. Then I saw the reason why—the line to get into the office circled the block. I drove away, shaking my head, figuring there would be another day.

A few weeks later, I was told about a Senior center that had a dedicated DMV on Tuesdays. Maybe that’ll work. So, it was off for another drive—and there was another line that was even longer than the Saturday one.

We’ve come this far, but I’m not giving up!!

Next, there was a phone number that seniors could call to get an appointment. Cool! I dialed the number, I was told to press the magic key for appointments—and then I waited, and waited, and waited some more. After thirty minutes, I was done.

But, about this time, we were told that there was a dedicated office in downtown Chicago that only processed Real IDs. After all of the above, I was more than a little doubtful. About three weeks ago, I was downtown to have lunch with my daughter. I had some time to kill, so I went to check out the office. Hmmm…no lines on the outside. There were a few lines inside, so I asked what the turnaround time to do this was. I was told an hour. Yeah, yeah—I’ve heard that one before, but maybe, just maybe this is it?

A week later, I returned! It’s a drive, two trains and a walk to get there, but I’m fine with that—sort of.

I get to the building and get into the first line. It’s moving quickly. Fifteen minutes later, I’m at the front and I put my documents on the table:

Passport-check. Driver’s License-check. Social Security card-check. Credit card bill-check. Doctor’s bill-BUZZ!!

“We’re sorry, Mr. Moore. We can only accept one bill. Do you have anything else?”

I did, but not with me. “You’ll have to come back another time. Sorry.”

WTF!! Didn’t they know all I’ve been through to get to this point? And, I don’t really think she was sorry. It was back home, empty-handed..again.

But all of this led up to yesterday.

I headed back downtown again—this time with all the proper documents. Two trains—both with delays—later, it was go-time.

First came a ten-minute line to get to the document check desk. Everything was good—phew! Then you get your picture taken—all good. The third stop is another document check plus a vision test. She did want to know if I was still 6’1” and 190 pounds. I’ve told her I’ve lost some weight and a couple inches—damn aging! Finally—yes, finally—it was time to pay. Six bucks and done!! Time to go catch a couple of trains and go home.

So, this two-month adventure has now come to an end—sort of. See, you don’t walk out of there with a new Real ID license. It comes in the mail in two to three weeks. But, on Friday, I’m heading to a wedding a few hours outside of Washington D.C. What is going to get me on the plane? I assume it’s the same passport I always could have used—sigh!! There’s that assume thing again—sigh.

And back to how hard this thing is to do—-remember in the movie “A League of Their Own” when Tom Hanks told Geena Davis, “It’s the hard that makes it great.” Well, Tom, you were wrong. It was hard, but it certainly wasn’t that great. Welcome to bureaucracy in America—2025-style.