A Visit From the Census Girl

The encounter was very much like in this old photo.






It was odd that my wife had mentioned a couple of times in the last three days that the census people would be here soon. She wasn't going to answer the door if I wasn't here. It was my responsibility to talk to them according to her. That was because when I filled out the mail-in form all I answered was that 2 lived here. The rest of the answers were an N/A. Sure enough, the census representative showed up late this afternoon.

Another odd thing was that 'census girl' didn't want to know anything about our house, it wasn't on her list. She assumed we had sent back the questionnaire successfully. It was about the house next door which is a 110 year old frame home with no permanent electricity, no water and no bathroom or working septic system. It needs paint but has a good roof and a well kept yard but is nothing but a storage area and workshop.

I told her no one lived there and hadn't for over 15 years. She pressed a bit and said that it looked like a nice little place where someone could live.

I said,  "0 people live there and 2 people live here. That's the census."

She then asked if I would sign a form stating that there was no one living there to prove that she had been here.  I responded, "I don't mind telling you the truth about an unoccupied house but I'm not signing anything." I was nice about it and went on to say that last year another census worker came by taking front door GPS readings and that I had told him the same thing. For some reason the house must have been flagged for verification. I suppose it looks like a hideout for illegals or something.

The census lady was polite and nice and said that I didn't have to sign the form, thanked me for my time and left.

Hopefully that's the end of it. I've done my constitutional duty. The government knows how many live on the property and that is good enough.


The cost of the 2010 census is somewhere around $15 billion.

"The 2010 Census will be the biggest peacetime government mobilization in our nation's history."

Rahm Emanuel is responsible for overseeing the census. That means that nothing about it is in our best interest.