A while back we had a thread about the cencus forms. Some people on the thread were asking what would happen if they did not send in the forms. I think the forms said you could be fined $100.
I was wondering if people did not send in their forms? If you did not what happened? Did the census people come by as I thought would happen? Were you fined as most people thought would not happen?
My SO and I forgot to turn in our form, so one Saturday a couple of nice women came by our house and took it from us. Luckily, I’d remembered to put it by the door in anticipation of their visit. We didn’t give the matter a second thought.
A few days went by and we got another knock at the door. We were confused, to say the least, then became a little worried when the census worker identified himself and asked if we “knew anything about the neighbors living two houses down the street.” Of course, we said we knew nothing–which is true–but we were a little upset that they felt that they could just go knocking door to door asking people about their neighbors.
I never really understood the objections to the census–seemed rather harmless to me until this incident.
My objection is this:
The constitution says they are entitled to an actual enumeration of people living in the area. Fine. No problems there. But why do they need to have a catalog of age, race, income, health status, etc, etc, ad infinitum? And I will not answer those questions. Period.
We got that bloody long form filled out, having had to dig out all our utility bills and such, and got the thing in mail a week before the deadline.
The day AFTER the deadline a little old lady shows up at our doorstep and makes us fill out the whole damned thing again! Says the bureau sent her over 'cause they never got our census form. Jerks! Some of them census reallocations better benefit us, or I’m going to be pissed.
I heard on TV in Chicago that some census takers are just putting down entire apartment highrises as empty as they go during the day and can’t get in.
The whole idea is to get an accurate count. They won’t allow samples but allow a census taker to mark a high rise as empty. Well what are you gonna do?
I received the long form, filled it out and mailed it, and have had two census enumerators leave me forms since then. I’ve filled out a long-version enumerator’s form and it has been hanging by my mailbox for three days now, waiting for the guy (whom I called to let him know it would be there) to come get it.
I’m not wild about having all that personal info out there, so, if he doesn’t come get it tomorrow, I think I’ll retrieve it.
Oh yeah, I’m of the human race and my ethnicity is american.
Joe,
Did you not answer the race ect. questions? Did you get any flack about it from the government?
A few weeks ago, I trudged up the stairs to my fifth floor apartment and almost stumbled into a not-quite-elderly man in a jacket and tie, complete with a U.S. Census button. He asked me if I was “E1,” which I’m not, and then proceded to ask me if I knew where they were. He looked exhausted and pretty discouraged as well, and had made his trip pretty much for nothing because the folks in E1 had either died or run away in the night; there’s a “seized by landlord” sign on their door as I type.
Is it me or does it seems funny that they do everything short of tieing you up by your toe nails to get personal information from you? We filled out the looooong form (There is a short form too, I don’t know who decides who should get what), but turned it in late. So yes we got a knock at the door by a women who I fondly call “The Nazi lady” to fill the damn thing out again. It all seems a bit too Draconian to me. Am I the only one who thinks this seems dictatorial?
Have not filled out the form. Told the census guy that came to our house…“We filled one out, please go away.”
He then went to our landlord asking about us. He gave the guy no information. So the census taker went away.
He came back the next week and said “Look, I don’t care what kind of information you give me, why don’t I put you down as ‘Smith’. Is that OK?” I told him to make up anything he wants and to have a nice day.
So, as far as I know, we are white Muslim Eskimos who speak upper Mongolian.
Ignoring the debate about the long form which has already been done to death on this board in several threads, we forgot about the census in our household and then lost the form. At least I haven’t seen it yet. About four days after the deadline we had a message on the answering machine asking us to please call regarding our census. I figured “what the hell”, called, and talked to a rather pleasant woman who read through the short form, I gave her the answers, and all was good. Plus I got to get the warm fuzzies of doing my civic duty.
Our local newspaper has a story about funny things that happened to local census takers.
A man answered the door naked, and refused to put on clothes. He answered all the questions though. Talk about a LONG form.
A sign on the fence said “beware of dog.” The census taker didn’t see a dog and went through the fence. All of a sudden from under the house appears a attack PIG. The census taker escaped just in time! (darn)
A census person goes to a large residence. A young lady answers the door. Census taker says, “Are there any other young ladies living here?” Young lady says “We have lots of ladies here. What kind ya looking for?” It was a local whore house.
ahhh
life in louisiana. ain’t it great.
michael
I didn’t send the form in and a lttle old lady knocked on my door with the form. I answered most of the “how many”, “what ages” questions and refused to answer a few others. She seemed OK with my refusal and went on her merry way.
Well, I “accidentally” threw away my long form. I then called the census bureau and told them I needed another form sent to me. They sent me the short form. I decided to fill it out and send it in, putting “American” as my ethnicity. (A small, personal protest.) I figured I did my civic duty and they’d go away.
Not so! I came home last week and found out that I’d been visited by a census worker. She listed a phone number. I called it, and the woman said that they hadn’t received the form. I politely told her about what happened, that I sent in the short form over a month ago, and that I wasn’t going to answer any more questions. She said that they had me on record as receiving the long form, and had no record of me sending in the other form. I told her that wasn’t my problem, I sent in the short form, and please don’t bother me again.
She said she would have to speak to her supervisor.
<sigh>
It was a javelina, not a pig. And it did draw blood from the census worker.
Also, if you refuse to answer, the census will send people out to ask your neighbors. According to NPR the other day, about 10% of the census is filled out this way.
to quote Joe_Cool
Here is the deal, see the Constitution of the United States, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 (found at
http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html)
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.
Congress basically passed a law (or several laws) and gave authority to the Census bureau (among other agencies) to come up with the 2000 Census form. It is used for several reasons mainly counting the number of people so that districts may be drawn up for representation in Congress. That is the simple reason for it…
Among the other reasons (you would discover this if you lived in a city that wanted lots of $$$, such as Memphis where I used to go to college) is that by asking these questions, the Census bureau can pass along information in a general sense to other federal agencies telling them that there are certain areas without indoor plumbing for instance or lacking phone service. This can help Congress appropriate money in a more “responsible” fashion.
It is a law to fill out the Census form in its entirety and there is a fine if you do not return it. You know, for all the whining that has gone on by some in Congress, they had a chance to pass a law telling the Census Bureau that they were not allowed to ask certain questions, but they did not.
I got my form and filled it out that day (of course the threat by the Dean of Students helped expedite the process a little but still… 
It only happens once every 10 years so I guess a little inconvenience ain’t gonna kill me 
-s
Anyone at the SDMB a census taker? I would be interested to know what they tell them before they send them out in the field.
My dad, a retired fella with time on his hands, went through the census training. Spent many hours in classrooms, learning about the forms and whatnot.
Now, we thought that they’d at least try to assign their employees to their own neighborhoods or something. But no, my dad had to prowl the outskirts of Santa Fe, wealthy neighborhoods where houses are spread out among twisting roads. He’d been doing it for around 3 weeks when they said they’d “have to let him go” because he was putting in too many hours and too much mileage for too few form completions. As if that was his fault.
On the plus side, we now know where Gene Hackman lives.
I work in property management. We have had the
cencus people here nine times, including three
times for the same building! Obviously, they
don’t know what they are doing.
I love the whorehouse story. Wonder if he got
the information.
On the last census I moved and didn’t get an envelope to mail back, just a notice one was coming. At my new place, a couple of weeks late, they came to the door. The questions are so simple, I can’t see any reason to fuss, but some people make out like it killed their whole weekend to talk for two minutes.