So, some of you know the whole backstory of me fighting with the Dept of Public Safety to maintain a drivers license. (Links below) I think its SUPER difficult to explain this stuff to non-diabetics. But, I’ve put in so much effort to remedy this (and have not) that I would like to contribute to the current push in the legislature.
(This is a long post. If you need the theme music that I have dedicated to dealing with this state agency paperwork fiasco, it is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXFSK0ogeg4)
Do you have any suggestions for how to briefly summarize years worth of hardship and legal catch-22’s? What are the important parts?
I think my main argument is…
I am the “disabled” person.
But, I am asked to spend sometimes 20 hours a week dealing with drivers license issues, by: 1.) Getting rides to every DMV in a tri-county area to resolve paperwork and computer system failures; 2.) Biking an hour to the train station so that I can take public transit another 2 hours to class; 3.) Going to court to defend myself against license suspensions, where I need to hire an attorney; 4.) Paying $300 for a doctors appointment with a specialist just so he can sign a form for the state; and, 5.) Being threatened by county prosecutors with jail (where they don’t allow you to have snacks or insulin pumps).
Thats what I do, as someone with disability, to maintain compliance with the law. But, the Department of Public Safety cant even be bothered to adhere to their own law and send me written notification in the mail asking for paperwork, they just randomly suspend my license and I find out when I get pulled over by the cops. They can’t even send mail.
I ask myself, who here is really “disabled?” Me? Or, the Department of Public Safety?
I believe that there are a bunch of catch 22’s that make it prohibitively difficult to maintain a job or any reasonable standard of living. I am fortunate to be young, but there are older people who can bike an hour to the train station in 90-degree weather or -30 degrees. There are diabetics and other people, for whom, spontaneously being asked to bike hours per day presents particular challenges that might put them at physical risk.
The state has been taking their gloves off, in the ring, over this issue for a decade. I don’t want to take my gloves off, but I will. So, its better that they just resolve the matter here and now.
If they send me to jail - they are only going to do it once. I promise you that they will NEVER do it a 2nd time. Why? Because I will paint a masterpiece. My canvas? The jail cell way. My medium? Human feces. I promise you that it will be the most avant - garde piece of work ever created. They will regret the day they met me.
Too much?
This is the result of our current DMV system. While it has been widely fixed, it is still not addressing bugs related to diabetes. It still does NOT work. https://www.kare11.com/video/news/auditors-report-assigns-blame-for-mnlars-debacle/89-bab0f819-8267-4f11-95dc-eb4c6f22baaf
What makes me draw a parallel to Soviet Russian is the nonsensical nature of current law. All the laws and business rules contradict one another, so it takes some luck to stay in compliance. I don’t believe my Doctor approves of the state trying to supersede his practice of medicine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VteSlRRCb7k
