Tales of the census, 2010 style

I got a letter from the U.S. Census Tuesday, promising that I would receive a letter from the Census Bureau next week and I should fill it out and return it. Some critics are holding this practice up as an example of government waste and redundancy, but perhaps there is an explanation. Maybe it's the Census Bureau's effort to reduce the Postal Service's red ink, or maybe it's a recognition that the Postal Service has a tendency to lose or misdirect mail, so sending two notifications provides a higher likelihood of success.

A retired friend took a job as a census worker. Recently, he said, he was directed from his home in Stantonsburg to go door-to-door in Spring Hope. The same day, another census worker was going door-to-door in Stantonsburg. She was a resident of Spring Hope. The two small towns are 30 miles or more apart, and the Census Bureau was paying each worker 50 cents a mile to get to their assigned neighborhood.

When I was enduring my year of unemployment, some helpful friends suggested that I apply for a census job, and I looked into a few openings but ultimately decided not to apply. All of the census jobs were temporary, and I wanted permanent employment. Now I'm glad I didn't get a census job.