Thursday, August 16, 2012

I'm me again!

When I got my Puerto Rican driver's license almost four years ago, they made a mistake in my name. In spite of a couple of (half-hearted) attempts, I couldn't get it changed. This meant among other things I had to use my passport to fly because the name on my ID (i.e., my driver's license) didn't match the name on my ticket. One of the big tourism selling points for PR is you don't need a passport to travel to and from the U.S. Well, I did need my passport. Renting a car was sometimes interesting. I had to explain why my DL name didn't match the name on the reservation.

Yesterday I was at CESCO (the PR version of the DMV) and finally got it changed. This time it was amazingly easy. I was truly surprised. Unlike previous visits to CESCO, people were helpful, the process was pretty straightforward, and made sense in this age of instant electronics. In about half-an-hour (including standing-in-line time) I had a new, correct driver's license.

The whole passport thing is not a really big deal but it was a pain. Now I can just use my shiny new Puerto Rico driver's license.

Names are funny things. Having the name wrong somehow felt like it wasn't really me.  Because it wasn't really my name on that little plastic card, it wasn't really my card in spite of the picture and all the other correct information. For reasons I can't fully explain I feel a sense of relief that my card now has my name on it.

At Ola Lola's we recognize the importance of names. We introduce ourselves to guests and ask their names. We try very hard to remember the names so when guest return a second (and third) time, we can greet them by name. It's a little thing and we don't always succeed, but we think it's important, part of the welcoming, the-first-time-you're-a-guest-the-second-time-you're-family feeling at Ola Lola's.

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