Florida DMV

Barry has been on a quest to satisfy Florida's laws and register our boat here, while at the same time documenting it with the federal gov't. After two encounters with uncooperative, uninformed government workers, he had all but given up hope. As I was blissfully shopping for organizational supplies for the navigation table, he was encountering yet another roadblock to lawful ownership of a boat in Florida. He needed me and my driver's license in order to complete the next round of paperwork. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper when he retrieved me from
Big Lots to return to the DMV. Amazingly, we were randomly assigned a funny, young clerk named Travis who made our time at the DMV almost painless. First, he jokingly stated that "This will be $500." hahahahahaha We gave him all of the requisite information.....make of boat, address (difficult, since we are staying at a marina), and information about the engine. (yes, this is vital. If we had replaced the original engine with a newer, go-fast model, we would be screwed). Finally, he tells us we owe the great state of Florida $249. Now, keep in mind that Barry had told me he thought it would cost around $80. After a bit of an exchange between the two of us, Barry turns to Travis and says, "We're not an example of those boaters that have loads of money to spend. We're shocked at the cost." Travis says...."I think I have a way to save to send you some money. I'll declare your boat an antique." (It is 31 years old....whereas Barry and I are genuine antiques since we're both over 50 years old). After a few minutes with his supervisor, he returns and gives us all of the paperwork to sign and says, "That will be $12.50." I exclaim, "Travis...CAN WE TAKE YOU TO DINNER?!?" He smiles and says "I can't take anything." But, we're going to send in a positive comment to his boss--Best experience we've EVER had at a DMV.