Crash1:
Sorry to hear of your "rude" problems. Maybe the clerk was having a bad bad day; or perhaps they really didn't care. At any rate, there is no excuse for that type of behavoir. A report to the person's supervisor would certainly be in order.
However, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater . . .
Here in Michigan, I went through the licensing/registration process three summers ago. Here we call it the Secretary of State. I went in and talked to a clerk, and asked her what was the process to get my Peterbilt titled as a motorhome.
This is not an everyday event for these folks. She had to look up the process in their procedures manual. It took about a half hour for her to sort it all out.
She then told me I needed a certificate of insurance, a weigh slip from a certified scale, and a plan or layout of my 16' dry box which was to be the motorhome/living portion of the vehicle. That was in June of the year.
I took the clerk's name for future reference.
In September, I went back back to the same Secretary of State's office with the required documents. I asked for "Betty" the lady who had helped me four months previously.
I walked up to her window and handed her my documents. She said, "Oh, I remember you! Let's see what you have here."
All was in order, and she proceeded to process my application for a new title for my Peterbilt. I two weeks I received the new title in the mail, and across the top, it says Peterbilt Motorhome.
This lady was fantastic! She made the process smooth, and enjoyable. No hassle, no bureaucratic BS; she did her job professionally and in a helpful manner. When my title arrived, I telephoned the SOS office where Betty worked, and spoke to her supervisor, telling her how great this woman was who helped me with a difficult process. Her supervisor said, "Betty has been her for 35 years, she's one of our best. She knows more about the Michigan Uniform Motor Vehicle Act than the people who wrote it."
So, there are "good" public employees, too.
Just my story.