Posted on 07/21/2005 10:59:16 AM PDT by redbaiter
Two months ago a field agent from the US Census Bureau left a business card under my door, with a note requesting an interview for a survey the Bureau does on unemployment and income. The note explained the purpose of the survey and outlined the sorts of questions that would be asked (mostly income and work-related stuff). I called him back at the number provided, told him that my income was none of his business and requested that he not contact me any more.
This was not effective, and he continued to try to contact me. So I called him back again and ordered him to cease and desist. This too was ineffective, and he continues to try and contact me even now, two months later. (In the summer I am rarely home before 9PM so he has never succeeded.)
I asked around, and it turns out he has a pattern of similar behavior.
What can I do to make this guy cease and desist?
Answer the door naked and invite him in.
If you can't get rid of him, just have some fun jerking him around (such as)...
Tell him you can meet with him, but your so busy it will have to be at a certain place and certain time, then give him some random address in a particularly rough part of town... of course you never show up...
Talk to him on the phone as if you have a hearing problem / mental disorder / short term memory loss. I.E. Let him run through his entire spiel then Yell WHAT !?! WHAT !?! I DIDN'T ORDER ANY PIZZA !!
Meet with him and then sit their with a doll in your lap. Any questions he asks hold the doll up to your ear and nod as if the doll is talking to you, then say something like, "Sally says she can't talk to strangers..."
I think I'd have a problem; right off the top of my head, I'd be wondering why someone claimed to be collecting census data in the year 2005.
Actually census workers go ahead and interview illegal aliens.
It is a no-win, red. Why risk the hot water? Answer the questions, get the guy off your back, then register your annoyance with your elected officials, who will probably ignore you. Gotta love bureaucracy.
It used to be there was a short form distributed to everyone every 10 years, with 1 in 6 people getting the "long form."
However, that meant that by the time the data was processed the information was very old.
Thus, the long-form to 1 in 6 people every 10 years is being replaced with interviewing about 2-3% of a given county EVERY year with the long form; you get it in the mail, if you don't return it, they'll try calling you if you have a listed number, and if that doesn't work, you'll get a worker coming to your door.
However in the incident starting this thread, it sounds like a different survey; there are dozens of different Census surveys, most of which take place continuously, not every 10 years.
Many of us resent the growth, and hence the intrusion, of big government. That being said the responses telling you to blow them off are offered, obviously, in sympathetic jest. No one here truely counsels law breaking, even in minor forms. Such playful posts shouldn't be construed that way as that is against the guidelines and practices of the site, and certainly against what is generally understood.
Just tell him that if he expects your cooperation--EVER--that he'd better come back with a court order, because otherwise you're not answering any questions. Then start singing brash showtunes like Hello Dolly.
He'll leave you alone.
That's very true, and I wouldn't mind giving out that information if my name wasn't attached to it. That is, if it were purely anonymous.
Census-Taker: Yeah. Well, I just need to fill out this Census form with you. Uh.. how many people live in this residence?Walken would be hilarious with this! we have some candy bars.. HA!
Mr. Leonard:Oh, boy.. good question. I'm bad with numbers.. Maybe 80.
Census-Taker: 80 people live in this apartment?
Mr. Leonard: Seems high, doesn't it? Not 80. How about 4? I don't know.. I'm so bad at guestimating..
Census-Taker: Well, just take your time, and count.
Mr. Leonard: Okay.. there's me.. my wife.. our plants.. we have some candy bars..
Census-Taker: Well, you know, we don't count candy bars or plants..
Mr. Leonard: Well, then, there's just the two of us. Boy, I really overshot with the 80!
The mailed me one. It's a lifestyle audit. I refused to comply.
"
What time do you leave your home to go to work?"
Even though your name is taken, when census reports are provided it doens't contain your name, or any way to identify you personally, it's done by an area; someone will know the average income of a few thousand people in a given block, but not YOUR income; specific data is embargoed for something like (80 I think) years and then is released for geneologists.
They're actually quite serious about data privacy, the FBI has tried a couple times to get specific census info and has been shot down by the courts.
Eat his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
Start speaking jibberish to him, a foreign language he's never heard. Then, typically start getting upset and angry, (wave your arms around too) when he doesn't understand. He'll just go to the next house, hoping they understand English.
"I think I'd have a problem; right off the top of my head, I'd be wondering why someone claimed to be collecting census data in the year 2005."
Well, most likely because a mid-decade update is now standard procedure?
Apparently, the right to privacy so clearly spelled out in... Article, um, no, I mean Amendment number, uh, well, anyway... of the Constitution only permits the dismemberment killing of children, not refusing to answer intrusive questions.
Ya learn sumpin new every day!
That's the theory but neither you nor the Census Bureau have any control over what the interviewer does with the info he takes from you.
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