Year Ending in 0? Count 'em!

Those fussbudgets in their wig and stocking drag were plenty wise. In respect for the considered insight that led to the decennial national census:

• Fill out and return your form as soon as you get it
• Gently chat it up with coworkers, buddies and such

Likely between 20% and 25% of us won't return the form. That means we shall pay many millions to have temps workers track them down in person or by phone to get those data. Of course, the U.S. Census Bureau is already in groceries and public places pitching how a full, accurate count allocated federal legislators and dollars fairly among states.

They've been at this since 1790 and are really into it.

For those of us who perform this wee duty quickly, we can be surprised by how many Americans don't. I have a rant on my long-ago, college-days experiences taking follow-up census over at Harrumph.

My encounters probably still hold. I found that various families:

• Never opened the mailing from the Census, ID'ing it as junk mail and tossing it
• Just couldn't be bothered
• Didn't understand what it was about
• Had forgotten in the past decade or two or three or more what the census was

All unbelievable and lame excuses, right? Well, no. As one of my favorite Lenny Bruce quotes runs, "There is only what is and that's it. What should be is a dirty lie."

Many of us don't mail back the form. Maybe you can nudge a bit here.

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Tags: massmarrier, census