Dear Mahatma: The website of the Department of Finance & Administration doesn't list the Indian Hills office as one that issues enhanced driver's licenses. But that office actually does. -- Sharp-eyed
Dear Sharp: We carefully scoured the DF&A website and found that the Sherwood Revenue Office is, indeed, on that list. At least it was when we looked. Sometimes it's a matter of hunting and pecking.
We found the list of 25 regional offices which offer the Real ID under "Arkansas Voluntary Enhanced Security Offices."
As you know, the World Wide Web offers so much information that bewilderment is a common feature of modern life.
Here on the sun porch, we always think of Henry David Thoreau, who pondered the world at Walden and concluded that our lives are frittered away by detail. Simplify, he said, simplify. And this was in the 19th century.
Dear Mahatma: I went to the main revenue office, the one near the Capitol, to get an enhanced driver's license, about which you wrote last week. When I showed my Social Security card, the nice lady said it was unacceptable because it had been laminated. -- Steve
As Tweety Pie used to say in the Saturday morning cartoons: "It's true! It's true!"
Tweety said that about puddy tats, but the same applies to laminated Social Security cards. In fact, the Social Security Administration says on its website, "Do not laminate your card. Lamination prevents detection of many security features. However, you may cover the card with plastic or other removable material if it does not damage the card."
(Insert shocked-face emoji.)
Scott Hardin, spokesman for the Department of Finance & Administration, concurs on the matter of laminated cards. The state must follow all federal regulations in the matter of enhanced driver's licenses, he said.
It must also be noted that seldom in the history of American newspapering have Thoreau and Tweety Pie been quoted in the same space. This must be some kind of franchise record. At the least, it's a career high.
Dear Mahatma: Why do we no longer "Walk on the left, facing traffic?" In my neighborhood, especially during winter, groups of ladies take early morning walks, often wearing other than reflective garments, on the right side of the road. Even driving slowly, one often comes upon them more quickly than is comfortable. -- Porter
Dear Porter: The Mahatma and his sidekick, The Fabulous Babe, make an effort to walk facing traffic. Even better, we tend to walk on the ... sidewalk! Wherever available, of course. Not that sidewalks don't have their drawbacks. We personally know of two people who tripped and fell, face first, on sidewalks raised up by tree roots or other pressures from below.
The fundamentals of safe walking remain. Walk on the sidewalk if possible. If on the street, walk facing traffic. Wear clothes that can be seen, or are reflective. Black or gray or navy blue are not smart for walking in the dark or dusk.
Fjfellone@gmail.com
Metro on 09/30/2017