May 5, 2010 1:15 PM
Close encounters with the census - your stories?
dirtdartwife left this as a comment:
I filled in our census form and mailed it in. I made sure to put "American" for the race of all in my family. We got a call over the weekend to "verify that the information is correct". My husband ruined my good fun because he was asked if anyone was black or latino and he says "No" and then the person asked "so you're white" and my husband responds "yes". ugg... I wish I had answered the phone. Than again, he said the person couldn't read the script he was given because he was told "Thank you for your precipitation."
Please feel free to leave your stories here. Maybe we can gather them for a book. . . Chicken Soup for the Census, anyone?
Comments
My husband wrote "American" in the race field as well...I wonder if we'll be getting a follow-up call?
Posted by: Erin | May 5, 2010 1:48 PM
I haven't had any feedback, but I didn't fill in most of our census -- only the parts specifically prescribed in the constitution.
I do not understand the purpose of grouping Americans by race, especially with such vague and meaningless labels as "white." The term "white" has no meaning beyond the color of my skin, and what does that matter?? The color of my skin tells you nothing of my ancestry, of the culture in which I was raised, of the traditions that were preserved from the cultures from which my family originated. In fact, when my grandfather was a child, he wasn't even listed as "white" on the census form; he was listed as "Italian." (I've seen the form.) Labeling me as "white" actually separates me from my own family, even though we share the same genetics. All because our culture changed their collective mind and decided to group all Europeans together.
And what about the ridiculous label "African American"? I knew a girl in college who faced difficulty after checking the "African American" box on her application, because she was white. The fact that she was born and raised in South Africa apparently made no difference. Meanwhile everyone whose skin is dark enough carries the label of African, even if their ancestors do not hail from that continent.
The only information they are really gathering by the race question is the color of our skin, absolutely useless, worthless, pointless information. What's next, hair color?
Posted by: Michelle Potter | May 5, 2010 2:08 PM
They called our house as well. I would gladly have given them information but once they heard that I wasn't the one who filled it out (just his wife) then they immediately shut down. lol. The difference in how they talked to me was obvious. I didn't want to tell them the color of our skin either but unfortunately, my husband did.
Posted by: Sue from Buffalo | May 5, 2010 2:51 PM
So timely, this post. I was just visited by a census worker an hour ago. Apparently, I did not send in my census in a timely enough fashion and so need to be visited in person. When he knocked at my door, I was in the middle of preparing lunch for 3 of my kids and told him I didn't have time to talk right now, but could he leave it with me. He became so flustered with me, saying he wasn't supposed to leave it and I had to pick a time for him to come back. This was said with annoyance and down right condescension. At which point I asked him, "Is there a law that says I have to fill it out? Because you are chastising me for what appears to be an inconvenience to you. Don't you get paid to do this? I'm confused." He changed his demeanor immediately. At any rate, we have an appointment for tomorrow morning. This could be fun :)
My question: which parts are specifically prescribed by the Constitution? i haven't looked it over (honestly, I forgot about it), and so want to be prepared.
Posted by: Bridget | May 5, 2010 3:00 PM
Where can you find out exactly what is legally required to fill out? I mean I know the rest of the information is probably info they all ready have anyway, but still I prefer to only fill out what I must.
Posted by: Tiffany | May 5, 2010 3:06 PM
I didn't fill in any race or home ownership status questions. I also didn't fill in my phone number because I didn't want any phone calls about why I didn't fill in race questions. Everything else I filled in.
Posted by: Elissa | May 5, 2010 3:25 PM
We filled out only question 1 (# of people in household), and attached a letter explaining that none of the other questions were relevant to counting the people or allotting representation in Congress. I got a knock on my door last week from a Census Bureau worker, asking me to fill out the complete census. I explained again that I would not, and why not. He was polite, thank goodness, wrote my answer down and walked away.
Posted by: Kristen S. | May 5, 2010 3:51 PM
Wondering if and when we'll get a call or visit. I filled out the number of people in the house and sent it in. Period. If I'd filled it out further I would have listed "other: American" for all of us, though we're of different races.
Posted by: Marian | May 5, 2010 4:02 PM
Hi Barbara,
I love your blog and have enjoyed your books tremendously. Thank you for the encouragment that you provide to so many mothers.
I just want to remind your readers to please remember that the person on the other end of the phone is a human being. I live in a town where the Census Bureau is employing thousands. My mother is a very well-educated woman, yet the only job she could find was at a call center where they are doing these very same calls for the Census Bureau. For most of these employees, this is the only job they could find. These are single mothers, college grads, grandmothers, etc. They work in a building where the windows are covered with black paper so that no one can see in and the employees are searched on their way in and out of the building. My mother said that it is easy to get flustered and say the wrong thing because there are Federal Agents standing over your shoulder (she said they actually look like the Men in Black).
The young lady that sits next to my mother is a Special Needs teacher that is working this second job in the evenings so that she can continue to afford to teach the children she loves even though she barely gets paid enough to cover her rent. Most days she leaves the call center crying because 90% of the people she spoke to were rude to her.
I don't mean to rant, but I have heard my mother's heart breaking as she tells me the stories of the people she works with. The people who are calling did not make the questions. They don't even get to relay the rude comments that are made to them.
I'm not asking your readers to answer the questions, but please don't make the person on the other end of the phone cry.
Jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer A | May 5, 2010 4:09 PM
We got the short form in the mail and I only answered question #1. On the form there was a shaded box surrounding that question. To me it just highlighted that that was the only question we were required to fill out, the rest were optional. So if I get a knock at the door I am prepared to be polite (thanks for the reminder Jennifer) and remind him or her that that is the only question I will answer.
Posted by: April C. | May 5, 2010 5:03 PM
Jennifer -
I so appreciate your sharing this perspective. I always make it a rule not to get mad at the person carrying out their job as long as they are polite to me. But if I sense any power tripping, I do tell them what I see and I do follow up with a complaint.
Posted by: Barbara | May 5, 2010 5:11 PM
Everything the U.S. Constitution has to say about the census in found in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3: http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec2.html
The Constitution allows the government to count us, and nothing else.
Posted by: Kristina | May 5, 2010 5:19 PM
The old census forms in my geneology book asked
name, age, occupation,and who was the head of the house or your relationship to the head of the house. That's from 1880.
Posted by: Melanie | May 5, 2010 9:18 PM
Funny how many other people just entered the number of people in their household and sent it in. That's what we did and my husband wrote under race, "If race doesn't matter, why do you keep asking this question." We haven't heard from any census workers.
Posted by: Joanna | May 5, 2010 9:53 PM
I sent ours in. I filled in the information for my hubby and myself but not our children. I listed that 8 people live here but I don't think they need my children names. If they want that then they can look somewhere else. We dropped it back in the mail the next day. We then received another census form. I didn't fill it out because it was too soon for them to have received ours. There was a something or another that said they accidentally resent forms out. I then got a call stating they had to speak to us. They asked all kinds of questions which I answered on the form but then asked if we had ever been in a mental hospital , things like that. I told her directly "so you are asking if we are crazy?" She chuckled but didn't answer. I was irritated and told her I was not angry with her, that I knew she was just doing her job but it bothered me that they called after I sent out the form. Afterwords I realized that it doesn't matter what I put. My husband works indirectly for the government. They have our information if they wanted it. I won't be arguing in the future, just fill it out and answer the questions. Unless they are rude of course.
Ouida Gabriel
Posted by: Ouida Gabriel | May 5, 2010 10:10 PM
Folks, the Census is the least of your worries.
What you really should be worrying about is that every time you buy groceries or fill up on gasoline or eat fast food and pay with a credit card, those details are stored in multiple databases and used to create a profile that is mined to predict not only who you are but what you do each day.
In fact, this Census will probably be the last one the government does via mail. Various sectors are already pressuring the Census Bureau to turn to existing electronic records for the count -- which are plentiful and already public: birth certificates, death records, postal records, and on and on.
If you think that your every detail is not already recorded by multi-national corporations that want to mine it to support their Greed, you're living in a dream world. The Census itself is really just a formality.
Posted by: Bill Glass | May 5, 2010 10:13 PM
Jennifer, good reminders about treating people with respect. My husband was very respectful to the caller. We thought it was funny (in a cute way) about the "precipitation" bit when it was supposed to be participation. And believe me, it wasn't due to some secret agents over his shoulder, it was more of lack of education to be able to read fluently. The info they're collecting isn't classified so if any agent is over their shoulder, it isn't for quality control purposes. I'd be suspect about the agents anyway because no federal agent goes with the workers door to door collecting/verifying the same info as the ones calling. It's also common practice to be searched entering a federal building, so that has nothing to do with the Census. I'd be suspect about the exiting searches unless they're worried about these workers are stealing objects because, again, the info they're collecting isn't classified info. And if that's the case, then I *really* would hesitate to give any identifying info to the caller.
We're with ya on being respectful to the caller, as should the caller be respectful to whom they are calling.
Posted by: dirtdartwife | May 5, 2010 10:20 PM
We got our census in the mail and I returned it yesterday, with only the number of people living in our house. I included no phone number. Will someone show up here? Maybe...they'll be told the same thing we put down on the form. I hope that they receive millions of forms filled out the same way...Kind of makes me smile at the thought...
Posted by: Kim | May 6, 2010 9:38 AM
A census worker came out to visit the lady next door now twice. I'm guessing she's over 80, and the first time he came, she wouldn't open the door because she was home alone. I live on the second floor here, and he was so loud that I came over to the window make sure that he actually was a census worker. He came back yesterday, loud as ever(!) and she came out because the tenant upstairs was outside as well. To the point of almost badgering her, he was trying to ascertain that she was the only person in her apartment - "But I saw someone else there last time I was here" he told her, and after she told him about 3 times that she's the only person living there, he started in about whether there were people living in her basement. (Many of the apartment buildings here have basement apartments.) Again, she had to repeatedly tell him that nobody lives there, and it got to the point where she asked him, "Do you want to see my basement?" I think this lady probably emigrated from Greece, and it's crazy that this guy - while not entirely rude - badgered her like that. (He also started in on the upstairs tenant because she had a baby with her that wasn't listed on the form. She had to explain that she was only babysitting.)
Posted by: Katja | May 6, 2010 11:21 AM
The lady came to the door a couple of days ago. I told her how many people, names of kids, and that they were all our own biological children. told her to write American for race, didn't answer whether we rent or own, give out birthdates, give out our phone number, etc.
The lady just wrote down the children's first names and whether they were male or female, she said she'd fill in the other stuff later.
Bill, in many ways I LIKE that the grocery store knows what I buy through my store card. I get coupons and mailings that are targeted to me and my coupon printouts are targeted, too.
But I don't want the gov't to have that info - *I* allow the store to collect it.
I also noticed she was writing in pencil. Not sure why that was.
Posted by: Milehimama | May 6, 2010 11:53 AM
I filled out my original census form with just the number of people in our household, and mailed it back with a copy of this letter: http://www.thoughtsfromaconservativemom.com/?p=5940
Today I got a visit from a census worker. He drove up in a shiny new VW convertible Beetle (must be nice to work for the government)!
I'm glad I was home because I know my husband doesn't think it's a big deal and would have answered the questions just to get rid of him.
He was polite and said that he had come because I hadn't sent in my form. I countered that I had, and he said, "Well, maybe it got lost in the mail." Is that the government version of "my dog ate it?"
He then informed me that he just needed to ask me a few questions and it would only take about 10 minutes. "I already answered the constitutional questions on the census," I replied. "The constitution says 'enumeration', and I have complied with that."
"Well," he countered, "that's true, but congress determines how the census is collected and passes the laws which determine the questions."
Undeterred, I asked him to show me where in the constitution it says I am required to give any information other than 'enumeration' (number of people).
He smiled politely and said, "I can't." He then showed me his clipboard and said, "I understand your position. I'll just need to confirm your name and phone number in case we need to follow up. You might get another visit or phone call, but feel free to tell them what you just told me."
Just for that, I offered to fill in my contact info so he wouldn't need me to dictate it. He walked away with the same info I had mailed in the first place (although he probably filled in my race after he left). It was a courteous exchange, but what a waste of taxpayer money in pursuit of information that is none of their business (or constitutional)!
The primary reason they want to know age, race and income is because it helps them to determine preferential voter blocks when redrawing the congressional district lines. I have no intention of giving them what they need to gerrymander districts in their favor!
Posted by: Rachel | May 8, 2010 1:53 AM
Jennifer, I agree absolutely about being polite. It's not the individual census worker's fault if the government oversteps its bounds.
Bill, I honestly don't mind private businesses having my information. Unlike the government, private businesses do not have the power to jail me, strip me of my property, remove my children, or send a literal army after me. All they do is send me junk mail.
I came back to this post to report that we have not had any calls about our census form, but we did have a visit. A census worker came to ask us questions about our neighbor! (I was asleep, but my husband declined to answer.) I find that rather creepy.
Posted by: Michelle Potter | June 4, 2010 11:26 PM
The story just gets better... After my initial visit from a census worker, he did in fact return and I gave him the number of people living in our household. I respectfully explained that I was aware that I was not required to give any other information to him, ie., names, ages, social security #'s. And he went on his way. This was on May 5.
I received another visit from a different census worker on June 1 who said he was doing a "random follow up" visit. My radar went up, but I politely gave him THE SAME information I had given the previous gentleman. He gave me a bit more of a hard time, but I respectfully held my ground. I gave him my cell # and invited his supervisor to call me if they had any problems.
Just today my neighbor told me that this census worker came across the street after leaving my house last week to ask them questions about us! Specifically the names and ages of my children. Thankfully, our neighbor refused. I am livid.
Posted by: Bridget | June 6, 2010 4:07 PM
We got a visit from a census worker yesterday. We'd received a notice that she'd stopped by a week ago, so I was anticipating her visit all week. I'm glad I read these stories! I had filled out the form with just the # of people in my house. I told her I would give her the same info I filled out before. She was nice enough, and said she'd like more information so people aren't counted twice. I told her no one in my house (myself, my husband, and 3 children) would be counted elsewhere, but she persisted. She seemed really nervous, like she'd get in trouble if she didn't get the info. I ended up giving her my and my husband's name, bday, and race, and our three children's genders. After she quizzed me about my husband and I, I said, "I won't give you any more info about my children, because my understanding of the law is that you just need numbers, not details." She got really nervous and said something like "I don't know the exact laws, but I know some things have changed." I countered with, "not the constitution, and I won't give you anymore information" and she backed down. I also gave her my phone #, b/c she said it'd just be to verify she did her job if her supervisor calls. That's understandable. I'm thankful for these stories, and that I was able to stand firm in what the law says. Had it not been during dinner time with my screaming baby upstairs, I would have printed out a copy of the link above with the exact wording and shown her. Thanks Barbara!
Posted by: Addie | July 24, 2010 3:21 PM
