Christmas Eve at the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center

Our car required renewal of its emissions inspection, and we realized that, given our crazy schedule, perhaps the best time was when Georgetown was on break. Thus, we found ourselves at the DC vehicle inspection center at 7:30AM on Christmas Eve.

This was an encounter that we had been dreading. We assumed that despite all attempts to the contrary, we would arrive without the proper documentation. We expected long lines, awaiting service with hundreds of others, hundreds of cars idling in the cold. We anticipated slow-moving workers, sullen from the monotony of their work, killing time until quitting time.

We pulled into the lot in a mood appropriate to those forethoughts. A worker, bundled up for the cold, approached our car. He asked what service we were seeking and directed us to the right line. Then he smiled at us and said, “I hope you have a merry Christmas!” It set us back, and we wished him the same. The next technician was equally welcoming and wished us all the best. The service was fast and uncomplicated. We left uplifted.

I’ve reflected on this encounter since that moment. I have written about the loss of faith and trust in institutions. I’ve described increasing examples of stakeholders taking direct action instead of appealing to the institutions to address their concerns. Petitions among dissatisfied groups seem to be more and more common. However, institutions have the unique ability within a society to improve the lives of many people simultaneously. They must, of course, be responsive to their stakeholders, but assumption that they can’t and action must be initiated independently seems unwise.

So, the simple encounter with the vehicle inspection center stopped me in my tracks. I had succumbed to the same disease I was lamenting. I had completely ignored the Ignation notion of the presupposition – the need to approach all interpersonal interaction with the assumption of good will on the part of all actors. I had assumed incompetence, inefficiency, lack of customer orientation. My guilt led me to write my first-ever email, praising a motor vehicle inspection service to its leadership.

The increasing tendency to assume failure of institutions to address any concern of stakeholders has a certain epidemic quality to it. Institutions that are indeed failing initially breed the attitudes. However, one institution’s failure to serve does not produce the same failure among others. One fears, of course, that the default reaction to concern becomes independent actions, assuming inaction from the institution. The current challenge to all institutions appears to require unusual speed and transparency in actions, attributes that are not built into the design of most institutions.

The second thought I had from the DMV episode was that greatest strength of any institution is its people. Since the salary scales of the staff we met are likely rather low, I suspect that part of their motivation is serving the common good, assuring cleaner cars are traversing the DC streets. That they showed respect and good cheer to a random customer is a result of a culture that all institutions seek. One wonders how the mission of the facility is communicated effectively to those staff day to day. It is something to be preserved.

I’ll try to do better in future interactions with the various institutions in my life.