Would you want to work for the US Census?

[MirahM]

I'm not by the way-but more than one person has said that could be a good seasonal job until my spring job picks up. I just don't think it is something I would want to do or be a part of.

Do you fill out your census when you receive it? I don't remember receiving one last time.

Do you think it is important?

[cannongal]

No, I wouldn't work for the Census.  You couldn't pay me enough to walk up to a strangers house and try to get information that they don't have to give up. 

 There's only a certain part of the census that is required by law to fill out, the rest is optional, and the gov't should be happy I filled out the required part instead of sending some moron to my door to ask me questions that I didn't have to answer to begin with.

Side note, if you answer the door with a hatchet in your hand, the census guy will shit a twinkie and come back with the cops.  


The census is pretty much redundant these days anyway, between the IRS and welfare, the gov't already knows where we live, how much money we make, and how many dependents we have.   With the computers we have today, it shouldn't be too hard to extrapolate that info from the different data bases.

[sally]

I got one in the mail in July and I threw it in the trash and then I got three more notices and I threw those in the trash. I don't have time for that shit. A couple months later the guy showed up at my door and I told him that I was just getting ready to leave which was a lie, so we did it over the phone the next day. He was a nice guy and it turned out we did his roof and his wife works at my daughter's school.

[Maggot]

There is no reason why they need to know the color of your skin. I just fill out the regular stuff never the stupid questions that are also in there. park myself in the manger, have the baby and I'm off.

To answer the question a big no.

[sally]

At the same time I got the census, I got a questionare from the Arbor Day society. I did fill that one out and donated 20 dollars. In return they ship me ten dogwood trees, but I declined because unfortunately I have nowhere to plant them. Too bad because they're beautiful trees.

[Maggot]

At the same time I got the census, I got a questionare from the Arbor Day society. I did fill that one out and donated 20 dollars. In return they ship me ten dogwood trees, but I declined because unfortunately I have nowhere to plant them. Too bad because they're beautiful trees.

They are nice trees. 

[HairOfTheDog]

I wouldn't want to work as a census taker either, but probably would if there was a shortage.

I answered all the questions in the last two censuses because I do think it's important for the government to have solid information about population and demographics in order to determine service/funding allocation, voter districts and stuff like that.

The process was very annoying in San Francisco last time.  I'd already completed the survey and sent it in, but kept getting flooded with phone calls and census takers coming to the door for like a week.

[Duchess]

I don't recall ever filling out a census form and as long as the questions weren't too personal I would answer them and yes, I do think they are important for exactly the reasons HotD listed.

[cannongal]

Because I'm stoned, I went on a tangent and stumbled on this-  

Blurb taken from:  Smithsonian Mag

The first census asked just six questions: the name of the (white, male) householder, and then the names of all the other people in the household, divided into these categories: Free white males who were at least 16 years old; free white males who were under 16 years old; free white females; all other free persons; and slaves. The census reflected the values of the United States in 1790: “Slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person. Indians weren’t counted until 1870,” Glass writes.




Fuck, can you imagine being counted as ³⁄_5^ths of a person?   And the people that originally lived here weren't even counted until 1870.  We've come a long way....I guess 

[Duchess]

Fuck, can you imagine being counted as ³⁄_5^ths of a person?  

Yeah, I can, but only because my mom & my boss both told me that back in the day women couldn't even get credit cards in their own name. Shiiiiit. My boss tells me stories all the time about how women were basically second class citizens back in the day.