So my darling blond oby-gyn stops by my bed in pre-op to check in before the cute nurse anesthesiologist pumps in the "relaxation medicine" and we proceed to exterminate that pesky fibroid. My entire medical team is there, each of them female and younger than me, which is a feminist victory that I can really enjoy at this moment of same-day surgery. I take her hand and try to look very serious.
"Doctor, tell me" I plead, "Will I ever enumerate again?"
She laughs and bows her head. "So you're doing that, the Census" she asks?
After I agree, she admits, "One of them was at my door the other day."
"You forgot to send in your form." I say, not as a question.
She nods, "It is on my desk, somewhere."
"It's OK," I assure her, "lots of other people did the same, that's why I'm there, to make sure you are counted."
Both the other doctor and the nurse are really interested.
"What's it like? How are people treating you"? they ask as the pump gets pushed and I'm wheeled into surgery.
"Oh, it's just fine", I reply. "Everyone has been really, really nice." And that's about all I remember until I started to wake up too early and suggested to the surgical team that Josh Groban would have been a better choice for operating room music.
But later, in recovery, I thought about that question, "How are people treating you." and how this is now the Internet and "lamestream" Media meme about the decennial census: that there are some Americans who are so pissed off at the Federal Government that they hate and distrust the Census and are threatening and dangerous to the 60,000 temporary workers currently employed to making sure that everyone is counted. The Daily Kuss is not innocent in this respect.
My experience has been that nearly everyone has been happy to help. I'm fortunate that I'm working as an enumerator in my own neighborhood, literally across the street this week. I'm also a cheerful gray-haired motherly-type person who is as non-threatening as they come.
I was trained by a terrific crew-leader at our local YMCA and my crew-leader assistants are supportive and encouraging. I'm been meeting lots of new neighbors and can have friendly conversations about our part of town, what a nice street they live on, what a great job they've done fixing up the place, did you see the musical at the middle school, oh my children are at that high school as well, see you around the block, and so on. Every person on our team, including our district manager lives in our Census area. I knew that my part of town was incredibly diverse, but even I have been surprised by how very, very diverse.
In short, this has been a great job for me, even though it's certainly part-time and temporary. Finding work has been tough since I left the bookstore and even I'm surprised that I was "brave" enough to take the practice Census test online, and then make my way to the local public library to take the Census exam for real. A recent WSJ article has repeated the current take on this year's Census workers, that we are the most highly educated workforce ever. It takes a score of 80% to pass the test, but a very large number of workers had perfect 100% scores.
When I got the call that I was hired if I could schedule the week of training, I was a little worried as well. Where would I be working I asked? "Cook County" was the answer. Now, that could be scary, or not. Cook County could be everywhere from Beverly to Wilmette. But, like many people, I've been walking my own Census route from my own front door.
As for those people I'm counting, don't be judging and hating on them please. The first "wave" of the Census was to list every single housing unit (home, apartment, condo, trailer, etc) in the country. It was from this list that the Census forms were printed and mailed, and it is from this list that the enumerators are following up. We start with housing units, and then count the people in them.
Certainly there would be units that look like homes, but are used instead for businesses; people who were moving house around April 1; folks whose forms have been lost between the house, the post office and the Census office; condos and apartments that are vacant; spouses who thought that the other one had done it; families that were in the midst of new babies; or elderly who in transition to nursing homes. These are just a few of the circumstances I've found. And a significant number of vacancies, which are not caught until the enumerators go around knocking on doors.
As for the headline to this diary, it's a free talking point for you. The Census has a clever Facebook page and there have been many great newspaper articles and advertisements, giving those right-wing keyboard jockeys plenty of time and space to go on and on about President Obama's Census, the fake employment numbers, how Census workers are now eligible for unemployment (I wish) and how illegal it is for anyone to come to your door to talk with you. And, you know, those blowhards on radio and TV who love to get the intertubes roiling by espousing extreme ideas about the Census. If you have a "friend" like that, just ask a simple question.
"Would President McCain have cancelled the Census to save money during hard economic times? Or would VP Sarah Palin have been encouraging all "real Americans" to do their patriotic duty and participate in this community building activity envisioned by the Founders of our great country?"
Count me proud to have participated in the 23rd Census of the United States of America. Oh, and guess what I found out. Both my mother and my mother-in-law are former Census workers. Now, it's a generational thing.