Rights and Responsibilities

"You need to get up if you want to go with us. I have to be at work at his 11:00"

The Boy comes stumbling down the steps, I hand him coffee.

"Happy Birthday" I say.

He grunts an acknowledgement.

After the ATM we head to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. We are hoping to take care of most of his obligations here. He walks up to the counter with his birth certificate "I need an ID card" he says.

The clerk takes his paperwork and enters his info "Happy Birthday" he says. After he signs off on the ID he says, "Are you registered to vote "  ant the boy answers negatively. So he is handed another paper with the info auto filled from the other form.  "Can he register for the draft here too" I ask.   " Sorry, no, you have to go to the post office for that one. 

The post office isn't anywhere near our other stops, so we'll have to do that later. They say its a 250,000 dollar fine to not register, but the bigger problem is that non registration will cancel out his financial aid. Another civil obligation to attend to.

So instead we went on to the discount house, so he could get school and dorm supplies. You heard me,  he was buying his own school supplies, with earning from his summer job.  Several reams of paper, multi packs of pens and pencils, and catchall bins for his dorm room later, we stumble on out of the store.  "Mom, this stuff is expensive. No wonder you cringed at all the back to school sales."

"Welcome to adulthood, son"  I say to him. "It just gets pricier from here."