The Nice Thing About Strangers
Creative Non-Fiction Short Stories. :) Travel, Oldsters, Love, and Compassion.
Prints
It’s the Department of Motor Vehicles, so no one is really crossing any items off their Bucket List around here. The lack of enthusiasm shows in glum faces, distant stares, the contagious yawns. A woman from Nepal stands by a set of chairs and stretches. Sometimes she steps forward, raises her arms, making silent movements. She’s making two old ladies very nervous as they wait to have their photos taken for updated licenses.
A man returns to his wife, who sat in the photo-waiting area while he went up for his portrait. She greets him, “What was the fuss?”
“Oh. She said I’ve been working too hard.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ve got no more fingerprints–look at that. She couldn’t get a read on ’em, said I’ve been working too hard and wore them all away.”
“Well well,” she moves for the door and he follows.
As he opens the door for his wife, first he takes it by the handle, then he puts his palm on the glass. He studies his palm print as she shuffles by. She moves ahead. Trailing her, he studies his fingers, hunting for prints, looking for proof of what he leaves behind.
–Department of Motor Vehicles, Northern Colorado.
Home Sweet Home.
The Nice Thing About Strangers 
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
I THOUGHT SHE WAS…IN NEPAL!!!!
Ok what does having fingerprints have to do with getting a licence, we have our photo taken for our licence here but nothing to do with our fingerprints………..
Hi Joanne, I guess it’s photo and prints. I have to do prints when I return to the states as well. 😕 Not too crazy about it, myself. Although, my mom looks like Doris Day, so Ms. Day could easily steal her license and her senior discounts. 😀
Next thing you know we’ll be required to give DNA samples, which as I think about it, isn’t a bad idea.
Such an incredible concept- the man worked his fingerprints away. Not quite as hyperbolic as working one’s fingers to the bone, but SUCH a powerful image. Thank you for sharing this for us to ponder!
Thank you so much for your kind comment! I found it so amazing how he kept staring at his own hand. I wish I’d seen him before he tried to give his prints–just to see if he’d paid much attention to his fingers beforehand. 🙂
Wow, and his wife was totally oblivious to how shaken he must have felt. Poor guy.
Reblogged this on The Nice Thing About Strangers.
A marvelous description of a trip to the DMV!
I’ve found ways to endure long wait times. 🙂
Thank you, Michael!
It’s not the fact that we leave an imprint on every life we cross that is meaningful. It’s recognizing this fact that leads to meaningful thoughts and actions. Beautiful message Paige, thank you for sharing your always thought-provoking stories 🙂