What do a DMV employee, tree cutter & bartender have in common?

They’re all super nice! As are most of the people whom I’ve interacted with so far in Boulder.

The Tree Cutter

I was out getting my vehicle registered in Boulder County, and turning in my driver’s license for a Colorado version. When I returned home mid-morning, I saw a Watson Tree pickup truck blocking our driveway. No big deal, as I don’t need to park there. Plenty of on-street parking.

A burly-looking fella with hard hat, safety goggles and an ample supply of facial scruff pleasantly approached. He wanted to let me know that because of a nearby tree they were cutting down for a neighbor, he moved the teardrop trailer in our driveway, just to make sure it was out of harm’s way. He would promptly return it as soon as they were finished. How thoughtful?!

He also asked if I needed to get into the driveway, to which I assured him it was no big deal. Without any prompt, he gave me an ETA for when they’d be finished.

Before they left, he asked if we needed any tree service while they were here, and had all their stuff. When I told him I had just moved in 5 days ago, he smiled and welcomed me to Boulder, reassuring me that it’s a pretty awesome place.

The DMV

As I mentioned above, I was out getting my registration & new license. While the process itself is relatively cumbersome, the people I interacted with were helpful, and welcomed me to my new home.

As I was standing outside the DMV, wandering around for a sign to “Start here,” a greeter smiled at me and ushered me in. She asked how she could help, and I told her I was hoping to get a Colorado license. She smiled and said, “We do that here.”

After I showed her all the paperwork, I was immediately called up to the window by another nice woman. We chatted for a few minutes while she went through all the required computer work. Often times we think of the DMV as being run by a bunch of disgruntled, government robot-workers, but my experience was much different.

It looked like my credit card didn’t go through the first time, as it was still asking her for a payment method. Instead of just blindly running my card again, she double-checked something, and sure enough, it did process. She saved my card from being charged twice. Humans double-checking the system. It’s a fantastic thing :-).

The Bartender

On my very first night in Boulder, my new roommates took me out to dinner at a bar across the street (Under the Sun). Erin used to work as a bartender, and since she grew up here, she knows a lot of people. She happened to know one of the servers that night.

It helps to be with someone who knows the staff, but that doesn’t mean they had to give us two free beers and a free pizza. But they did.

In Summary

I realize there are nice people all over the world, pleasant DMV offices in many states, and honest tree workers all over the country. It just feels like there’s a higher concentration of genuinely nice people out here.