Saturday's walk in the park

Saturday, just after noon, I found myself in the park behind Boulder High School.  The Maple trees were holding onto their yellow, orange and red colors.  It was cool and overcast with a chance of rain in the forecast.  Walking on the creek path, going in the opposite direction, was my Sunshine neighbor, Jane.  She was wearing a light jacket and had her brunette hair tied back in a pony tail.  She had a rather strange look on her face.

            I asked her what she had been up to lately.  She said she had been fighting the computer system at the State Department of Transportation.  She had recently applied for a new driver’s license that had to be mailed to her.  When it arrived she looked at it for a quick review.  Jane told me that the giant electronic wizard, the know-it-all IBM master computer; the savior of the massive amounts of data that the state holds on us made a small mistake.  Her license had her date of birth correct, had her hair and eye color correct; even her weight and height correct.  Everything was correct except her name.  Her license called her John instead of Jane.

She immediately called the Department of Transportation and informed them of the mistake.  The person on the other end of the phone said she had the correct form to deal with the issue and would promptly mail it to Jane.  It arrived the next day.  Jane completed the form and returned it.  Two days later an envelope arrived.  Enclosed was a sticker to be attached to the back of thedriver’s license.  It states that, in the eyes of the state, her name has officially been changed from John to Joan.