actually, I DON'T believe every idiot behind a counter at the DMV is a patriotic individual. I think a lot of them are there to pay the bils. True, the situation is almost contrived to make them snarky arses, but I think attributing them the motivation of seeking employment at the records office or the DMV or something to their patriotism has no basis.
And yes, in my 15 years of driving cars, a single cop has been nice to me. That is the ONLY story. The number of times I've been harassed beyond reason FAR exceeds it. every other cop has treated me like an idiot or a criminal or someone trying to aggravate the cop personally. The abuses are far beyond that. PLus there's the total incompetance that I've met at public health offices, DMVs, voter registration offices, social security offices and records offices. The complete lack of ability to do their job in these locations is astounding.
Note, Jeffe, that I am not saying ANYTHING about you and your job, or anyone at your office. I've never called your office to report anything, so I have no experience there. But I do know that people at a multitude of other government offices have MADE UP ANSWERS rather than try to seek the correct one out for me, which has caused me a LOT of grief later. I am NEVER rude when I'm trying to get things done, because I just wanted to get something done, and being an arse doesn't help. But I nearly always meet with incompetance. This is not explained by frustrated customers. It CAN be partially explained by underpaid employees, but it also involves people who cannot distinguish between the jerk who came at them with a bad attitude and the guy asking a simple question so he can accomplish a task. THAT, my friend, is incompetence.