Where else can you renew your plates and get hitched, all within an hour?

Since I’m now getting phone calls asking me what the “big news” is, I’m posting a very brief account.

Monday, I renewed my license plates. Gee, fun. Fortunately, I could do this at City Hall, just across the rotunda from the office where they register domestic partnerships, so I took care of both of those tasks (and a couple requirements for the renewal) on the same day.

I have to admit, though, that after going to the assessor’s office, then the collector of revenue’s office, then the state license office, the trip to the City Register’s office was a bit anticlimactic. We showed up, mentioned the purpose of our visit, produced an ID apiece and a utility bill with both our names and our address on it, read a little statement, and paid the $10 fee. The whole thing took maybe ten minutes, tops, and when the clerk was satisfied that everything was in order she said “You’ll receive a certificate in the mail in five to seven business days. Thanks, and have a nice day!”. No “congratulations”, no fanfare, no pomp, nothing. (Granted, the registry only officially grants us visitation rights at city-owned hospitals and jails, though the city government and a few employers recognize it as qualification for domestic partner benefits.)

So now Fred and I are officially registered in the City of St. Louis as domestic partners. w00t. Can’t you already feel traditional marriages unraveling?

(And yes, the whole trip — walking from my office to City Hall, waiting for Fred to arrive, getting my property tax bill, paying it, getting the plates renewed, getting registered as a domestic partnership, and walking back — took an hour. The longest single chunk of that was spent waiting my turn at the state office, and that was only 15-20 minutes.)