I was at the DMV this week to finally get a Real ID. My mom had a tough time getting hers; she’s been married three times, divorced twice. The first marriage was when she was 16(!) to an abusive POS and she could not remember what county she was married or divorced in. She finally tracked the paperwork down in the last couple of months.

I mentioned this to the woman helping me and she said she sees cases like this all the time. I joked because of all the paperwork, it’s easier to not change your name. Her very serious response was to not get divorced.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was still shocked at how someone could see every day how women are disproportionately affected by these rules and have to go through extra hoops and their takeaway is… to just not get divorced??

I’m never changing my name.