I was scheduled to get my new 5 year license at the Department of Motor Vehicles at 2 P.M. As I approached the door I noticed hundreds of people lined up, angry and shouting. They had placards and waved them.
I stopped to ask an older man with gray hair and a feather in it, about the tumult.
"What's going on," I asked him.
Fortunately he spoke enough English for me to understand him. "Governor Brown signed a new law allowing 'illegals' to get a California Drivers License."
"So," I asked, "why the picketing?"
"They don't want to drive the streets of Los Angeles with all the traffic, and potholes, and accidents."
"I see."
"Some people think giving a license to drive in L. A. is a sophisticated way of killing illegals so they don't have to be sent back across the border."
"I can understand that," I replied.
"So they refuse to get a Drivers License. Look," he said and pointed to one sign. "WE NO FILL FORMS FOR LICENSE--WE NO LOCO."
A Hispanic, dark eyes, mustached, standing next to us and listening, shrieked at me, "You won't catch me driving on the 405 Freeway, ever." Another, wearing a large sombrero said, "Nothing can make me drive the streets of L.A. Do you think I snuck over the fence in Tijuana, just to commit suicide?"
After reading the placards and thinking about what these "illegals" said, I became nervous about driving on the streets and highways. I decided to turn back around and forget renewing my license. After all, I'm no dumb gringo.
Van Nuys, California
In front of the California Department of Vehicles
John Ristnicktoshman reports.
