Since When is Michigan’s Secretary of State Appointment Only?

I may be late to the party, but since when has Michigan's Secretary of State Office (SOS) been reservation only? After a recent birthday, I realized I'd forgotten to renew my plates. I give the SOS office full credit for sending me a couple of reminders, but life happens, and I forgot. Figuring the fastest way to get it done was to take a long mid-day break with a fully charged phone and spend it with a little white ticket waiting for my number to be called.

Are Walk-Ins Welcome at Michigan's Secretary of State?

Granted, for the last couple of years, I've used the SOS kiosk located in an SOS branch. However, this branch didn't have a kiosk. Instead, there was a woman sitting on a stool behind a high-top desk where the "TAKE A NUMBER STAND" used to be. The following is the actual conversation I had with the maître d' of the closest Michigan Secretary of State branch to our studios:

• SOS maitre d': "Hi, what are you looking to do today?"
• ME: "I'd like to renew my tags."
• SOS maitre d': "I see...(looks at the screen, to my license, back to the screen)"
• ME: "Is there a problem?"
• SOS maitre d': "You don't have an appointment. But you can do this online."
• ME: "I know, but I like coming here because I'd rather deal with a person...I thought appointments were just a 2020 thing?"
• SOS maitre d': "We started phasing that in before COVID."
• ME: "Huh, guess I never saw that publicized."
• SOS maitre d': "Oh, it's all over our website."

Thinking she might have thought I was here to see Jocelyn Benson herself, I restated that I was just there to renew my tags. She restated that I'd need a reservation and was then gracious enough to make an appointment for the next day as they were "all booked for the remainder of the day."

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She did say that I could get a standby appointment and I was welcome to wait in the lobby, but their priority, rightfully so, was those with appointments. So she made the appointment. I asked if I could get a window seat. She didn't laugh. The appointment came. I forgot about it. I ended up renewing my tags online anyway, but STILL!

An Office Visit to Michigan's Secretary of State Requires an Appointment

I know a lot has changed in our world since 2020. We've lost buffets, 24-hour grocery stores, menus, and more. One thing I thought would return after the pandemic would be my right to sit in a crowded lobby with at least 3 feral children who no one seems to claim running amok. With the exception of the one loud talker who has aired her entire family's dirty laundry at a volume reserved for amphitheaters, we all sit silently, staring at a red digital screen and counting down to when it will match the number on the ticket we're holding in our hands.

I appreciate everything the Michigan Secretary of State is trying to do, which is to save us time, travel, and money. But I'll forget my login and password by the time I forget to renew my tags next year. This means at least 30 minutes of digging through a year of notes to find and/or reset a password I now have to use once a year. That's 30 minutes that could have been spent guessing who the 3 feral children running around the SOS lobby belonged to.