County licensing
County licensing
No excuse, try harder
This simply can’t continue. I waited 41⁄2 hours on Feb. 21 to renew my Hawaii driver’s license at the Kona driver’s license office at the West Hawaii Civic Center.
I had none of the issues that have plagued many of the frustrated applicants whose complaints have appeared on this page in past weeks. No name changes, no lost documents. Once I got in front of a clerk, it took less than 10 minutes to do the job.
I’m a retiree; I can spare half a day if necessary. But most of the applicants waiting with me were missing work, which adds up to an significant drain on the economy.
Worse yet, I was waiting with a woman in her 80s who was applying for a state ID so she could get on an airplane. There had been a death in the family on the mainland.
She waited longer than I did, and this was her third visit. She explained that some of the documents required by the office were issued so long ago that they’re not replaceable. She was pretty sure her application would be rejected once more — and this would be her last attempt, she said.
Her alternative was to spend $195 for an expedited passport, which she couldn’t afford.
When I left with my temporary driver’s license, she had been with a clerk for a half-hour. I hope she got her ID, because I’m pretty sure she’s not a terrorist.
I realize that requirements imposed by the Department of Homeland Security have made the county’s job more difficult. But that’s not an excuse; it’s a reason to adapt and try harder.
David Polhemus
Waimea
Cause and effect
Who is to blame?
Have you noticed that when you are denied something how much more you want it?
It seems many people want to legalize marijuana because they cannot have it legally. There are those who now drink more soda in areas where it is restricted.
Look at racism — the more one hears about it supposedly happening, the more racist one becomes.
Then there is the crap about guns. We all have read in the news about the increase in gun violence on the mainland and even in our state these past few months.
Could that also be because of the crazies who keep dictating to the public about stricter gun control and taking away ones guns — while at the same time preaching that guns kill, not the person who holds and fires the gun?
So why do we then prosecute the person (shooter) and not the guns that do the killing? All a person did was hold on to the gun while the gun fired itself and did the killing.
I find it all very strange indeed, which brings me to the episode that happened in sunny California this past week. Who is to blame for the killings there, the gun or former Southern California policeman Chris Dorner? Sleep tight tonight thinking about what you have just read.
Hugo von Platen Luder
Holualoa