Census Sense

I'm currently a Census Enumerator, meaning that I go to homes where the Census form was not turned in or was turned in too late to be included in the tracking sheets that have been drawn up.

I am in my 3rd week as a Census employee. My first week was whirlwind training, with a lot of information but only a little practical application. The second week I was on the street, or more accurately in the apartment complexes. I'm not going to provide any names or locations because the census activities are confidential.

My first contact was at home during the day, during the week. After answering the door, he tried to get rid of me by saying he was sick. I asked him when I might be able to come back and explained that I would have to come back to get the information. I also offered that he could call me or I could call him. He finally said, let's just get this done.

But then he wanted to know what was in it for him. He was not a US citizen and was here only for business purposes. I explained that the census provided information used to identify the number of representatives in Congress, but was also used to identify funding for roads and schools. He was not convinced that it applied to him because he had no children. I suggested what if you get married and stay here? He finally decided that he wasn't going to be able to chase me away and reluctantly answered some (but not all) of my questions. I don't think he gave me his name or his phone number. At the end he thanked me for my time. That surprised me considering how resistant he had been to the whole thing. I also thanked him for his assistance and shook hands with him.

This man was my most difficult case. I had a couple people say they were just heading out and could I come back later. I still have one of those to catch up with. I also had one who said he did not live in the apartment on April 1, but when I asked at the apartment office they said his family did live their on April 1. It turned out he had misunderstood the question and had thought that I meant since April 1 2009. Otherwise, a few people have refused to give names or phone numbers, but everyone has pretty much complied and been nice.

My third week starts today. But it is Mother's Day. Since last week was hectic; but I only have 5 apartments remaining from that assignment, I decided to take today off. Tomorrow, I will attempt to finish those 5 apartments. After that I will be working with a new Crew Leader. I've been assigned to a completely new group because my group doesn't have enough work. The new group that I will be in doesn't have enough enumerators because many have quit. I'm not entirely excited about my new assignment because I will be working much farther from home. But I do get mileage (.50 cents per mile woohoo!).