# For the love of your country, fill out your census form! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 17, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713 "2010-03-17T00:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/181 "2010-03-23T14:57:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That too. What have you got against being rounded up and interned, **John Mace**? :dubious: I’d actually be pretty cool with that. It would get me out of work, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/182 "2010-03-23T15:26:25Z")
:dubious: What, exactly, do you think you’ll be doing in your [del]concentration[/del] [del]happy[/del] [del]Jesus[/del] [del]band[/del] internment camp? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/183 "2010-03-23T15:44:17Z")
Interns? (insert obligatory stale Clinton joke here) ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/184 "2010-03-23T16:15:05Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > Plus, it will help expedite things when when the Obama-SS begin rounding up all non-blacks for the camps. Whew. I’m Black Irish, so I’m safe. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/185 "2010-03-23T19:20:07Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That too. What have you got against being rounded up and interned, **John Mace**? :dubious: I guess I must hate America! But just to be clear, I was really only mildly annoyed. We won’t be over this whole race thing for a loooooong time, if ever. I’m not going to let it ruin my day. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/186 "2010-03-23T19:47:49Z")
Overheard at the post office today: Older white male–but not elderly, by any means. He was about 50, wearing shorts, topsiders and a golf shirt. He was complaining to the postal worker about the census. OWM:" And why does it say to turn it in early? It asks how many people are in my house on April 1." Postal Worker looking non-committal. OWM:“How do I know how many people will be in my house on April 1? I mean, that COULD change! and it’s none of their business, anyhow!” Postal worker:“I’m sure I don’t know sir…” I could only marvel at him. He is old enough to have filled this out multiple times: 1990, 2000 and now. WTF is wrong with people? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/187 "2010-03-23T20:07:35Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Overheard at the post office today: > > Older white male–but not elderly, by any means. He was about 50, wearing shorts, topsiders and a golf shirt. He was complaining to the postal worker about the census. > > OWM:" And why does it say to turn it in early? It asks how many people are in my house on April 1." > > Postal Worker looking non-committal. > > OWM:“How do I know how many people will be in my house on April 1? I mean, that COULD change! and it’s none of their business, anyhow!” > > Postal worker:“I’m sure I don’t know sir…” > > I could only marvel at him. He is old enough to have filled this out multiple times: 1990, 2000 and now. WTF is wrong with people? It’s amazing that I’m hearing exactly the same arguments today from the “anti-census” people as I did in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/188 "2010-03-23T20:39:04Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > :dubious: What, exactly, do you think you’ll be doing in your [del]concentration[/del] [del]happy[/del] [del]Jesus[/del] [del]band[/del] internment camp? Oh, so we’re looking at more of an \*arbeit macht frei \*situation here? That’s less exciting. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/189 "2010-03-23T22:32:35Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > It’s amazing that I’m hearing exactly the same arguments today from the “anti-census” people as I did in 2000. I don’t recall hearing ANY of this nonsense in the past. I just sat down with my 11 year old and we filled out our census. It was quite dull. I have no idea how they count my college kid; I don’t remember ever filling out any census form when I was in college. (oh, and that would be because I graduated HS in 1980. \ never mind\) I will say I don’t think it’s fair that all the other “colors” get to be more specific. We whiteys only get to pick “white”. I really wanted to shake it up a bit and say that husband is Polish/French-American White, while I am total WASP. I am devastated by this lack of opportunity. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/190 "2010-03-23T23:56:34Z")
My roommate said “no thanks” when I handed him the form to fill out his part. I gave him hell. One of his incredibly lackluster arguments was “I’ve never had to fill out a census form before.” “That’s because you weren’t old enough, you moron. Your parents filled it out because they only do a census every 10 years,” I helpfully informed him. In his defense, he sheepishly handed me the form, filled out, a little later. At least he can be shamed into his basic civic duty. I don’t think he actually thinks it’s sinister; he’s just contrary as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/191 "2010-03-24T02:28:06Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I don’t remember ever filling out any census form when I was in college. (oh, and that would be because I graduated HS in 1980. \ never mind\) Even if you had been living in a college dorm in 1980 you might never have seen a census form - dorms are Group Living Quarters and they have a different process than typical (non-group) residences. I’ll be learning more about all that this week in training, because it seems I’ll be doing Group living Quarters (and yes, it’s capitalized every where in our materials). ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/192 "2010-03-24T02:55:19Z")
Cool! ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/193 "2010-03-24T15:43:50Z")
Although some dorms do individual census forms. I filled out one when I was an undergrad living in a dorm. Maybe they spot-check their counts by having some dorms do the forms while others are counted more bureaucratically? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ This year, we filled out our form completely, putting “American” for race. Why? Because that’s how we self-identify. We prefer to avoid perjury. Also, because 70 years ago either our marriage would either have been illegal, or if allowed to stand would have taken away my citizenship (and I was born American). Things have changed greatly since then, but there’re no guarantees and we don’t want to leave official records that could be used against our descendants (one-drop rules are pernicious). ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/194 "2010-03-24T16:54:14Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I should look into it. We have some “my ancestors are blah blah and blah blah” at work, and it would really be fun to answer with “well MY ancestor was Vlad the Impaler or Attila the Hun and he killed YOUR ancestor” > [@gaffa](#): > > I’m pretty sure that in some parts of the world having Attila the Hun as a male ancestor is a virtual certainty due to his controversial but effective “kill all the men, rape all the women” policy. [According to Joseph Chang’s paper](http://www.stat.yale.edu/~jtc5/papers/Ancestors.pdf), anybody with European ancestry is probably descended from Charlemagne. Since Attila the Hun was earlier and has living descendants, that means that, if you have European ancestry, you are probably descended from Attila the Hun. Vikings also might be handy for this kind of thing. If you have any Scandinavian or British ancestry, you’re almost certainly descended from Vikings. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/195 "2010-03-24T18:58:16Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Overheard at the post office today: > > Older white male–but not elderly, by any means. He was about 50, wearing shorts, topsiders and a golf shirt. He was complaining to the postal worker about the census. How do you know what race he is? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/196 "2010-03-24T20:47:16Z")
By the way he looks. That’s how we figure these things after all. What, you think race is _scientific_? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/197 "2010-03-24T22:57:18Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Although some dorms do individual census forms. I filled out one when I was an undergrad living in a dorm. Maybe they spot-check their counts by having some dorms do the forms while others are counted more bureaucratically? It works by addresses, generally. If your dorms are set up so each resident has an individual mailing address, each resident will get their own census form. Lemme tell you, it was a real party when I was the housing board chair for a fraternity. We’d get one form for the whole building, since it was technically one address, and then we’d invariably have a Census worker show up the next month asking if there were really 18 men living in one “house”. > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Oh, so we’re looking at more of an \*arbeit macht frei \*situation here? That’s less exciting. Well, it’s that or D_ance Dance Revolution_. _Tanzen macht frei!_ > [@Procrustus](#): > > How do you know what race he is? He was wearing topsiders. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/198 "2010-03-25T14:59:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, it’s that or _Dance Dance Revolution_. > > _Tanzen macht frei!_ Okay then. We’re back to an “I’m surprisingly cool with it” situation. … Unless we’re looking at something along the lines of the original ending of Snow White,\* in which case I think I’ll pass. \*I wrote this as Snow Shite for a second. Make of that what you will ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/199 "2010-03-30T18:28:43Z")
Oops… > [@](#): > > [Census Caught In Anger Toward Washington](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6932410.html) > > Texas is counting on the 2010 Census to deliver four new congressional districts, four new Electoral College votes in presidential elections, and millions of dollars in additional federal aid. But, as some elected officials are starting to worry, Uncle Sam can’t deliver anything to the rapidly growing Sun Belt state unless Texas residents deliver their forms back to the government. > > As of Friday afternoon, only 27 percent of Texas households had filled in and returned their census forms – well below the national average of 34 percent – according to computer data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In Harris County, the response rate is 23 percent. Houston’s returns are running at 21 percent. > > Contrary to historical trends, some of the toughest challenges facing the agency responsible for measuring the nation’s population are not from counting the traditionally undercounted groups such as African-Americans and Latinos. Instead, a new and growing threat to an accurate national head count is coming from anti-government conservatives who may not fill out their forms to protest against “Big Brother” in Washington… ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713/200 "2010-03-31T00:12:21Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > The reason the gender question is binary is not because it’s being insensitive, but because it is, for the most part, a binary issue. The Census doesn’t really want to comb through smartass answers like “yes” “no” “sometimes” or whatever. The question could be “female” “male” “other” and it would, perhaps, reveal that gender is not as much a binary as we believe it to be. Because people who do not identify as either male or female have never really been enumerated we can only _assume_ that their numbers are small, but off the top of my head I can name a dozen people who are somewhere outside of the binary and I don’t really know that many people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-the-love-of-your-country-fill-out-your-census-form/532713.md?page=11)