I like to think that I can give my readers some good advice every now and then. Today I urge each of you to go take a picture of your driver’s license RIGHT NOW!

We flew back from New Jersey on Tuesday after babysitting our darling grandson for a long weekend. You know the drill — show your license and get your boarding pass before going through the TSA line. But once there you no longer need either so you put them away quickly, trying to get everything taken care of before you hurriedly put all of your belongings on the conveyor belt before passing through the X-ray machine.

I have a system and Chris does as well. Until he didn’t. He changed it up. He put his license in his pocket instead of taking the time to put it back in his wallet like he usually does. He was being hurried.

After he got his backpack he went to put his phone and license away and guess what? The license was not in his pocket anymore and he figured he dropped it when he took his phone out to put in the tray. Immediately asked a TSA agent to look for it. No luck although we are not convinced she did a very thorough job.

Long story but you can get a replacement (at least in North Carolina) fairly easily online but you have to have your driver’s license number. Guess what? He had never written it down after he got a new license in December. That meant a lengthy wait at the local DMV which is understaffed and usually a nightmare to navigate.

Once we got home he remembered the temporary paper copy that he got in December before his real license was mailed. This was a time that not cleaning off his dresser came in handy because there it was and after a call to the DMV he was able to get a duplicate license mailed for a cost of $17.

So a word to the wise. Make a copy of your driver’s license now. At the very least, write the number down and keep it someplace safe. You can bet I did that immediately when he realized he lost his. And I have to hand it to him. He did not freak out like I would have. He was very methodical and calm about it and treated the incident with a reasonable amount of concern where I would have definitely overreacted.

Have you ever lost an important document and needed to replace it? How did you react? Let me know in the comments section and Comment for a Cause for PARI.