Census taker

So my job as a census taker is pretty much done. What was supposed to last 8 to 10 weeks ended up lasting barely 3 weeks and that's including our week of training.

It wasn't bad at all ~ other than the fact that it was pretty darn hot, most people were cooperative. Some invited me in, one even offered me sun screen. Most of the homes I visited were actually empty. I'd even say more then half of them were. My main area was a retirement community ~ a very nice one at that. Neighbors were more than happy to fill me in on the status of the houses. One woman was out walking her dog and invited me to come along so she could point out all the empty houses (and the circumstances surrounding them). I think they were just happy to have someone new to chat with.

I wish it had lasted a bit longer cause the extra dollars came in kinda handy. It'll allow us to do some fun stuff this summer. Some of my coworkers did have some incidents with people. Some had doors slammed in their face, some got yelled out a few even got cussed out. Fortunately for me the worst that was said to me was "what do you want" in a bit of a gruff voice. His wife was nice though and gave me the information I needed.

And while I said I was "pretty much" done, I still have 4 open NRFU's (Non Response Follow Up's). Hopefully I can knock those out this week and be done with it. Rumor has it that when we are officially released, our name goes back into a hat (so to speak) and we may get called back for some follow up work. I'm not holding my breath though and honestly there were other people working that really really needed the work and I'm hoping they get it.

Most of the people I worked with were nice ~ a few had some issues. Some had more issues than they should have. Hopefully those issues didn't come across talking to the public. We had one ranting and raving about the "damn illegals" and how they shouldn't be counted blah blah blah... when in reality they are the ones that needed to be counted the most. Realize that they are the one using public health care, schools and other resources badly needed. Without their numbers we have no way to accommodate the masses.  Besides, whatever your stance on political issues, we were representatives of the government ~ sworn in and everything ~ and opinions, especially controversial ones needed to be kept in check.

In any case, it was a rewarding experience and I highly recommend you sign up to work for the next one.