Census worker gathers data — then becomes a statistic

It came in the mail last month. It was my notification of termination by the U.S. Census Bureau. It was official. My brief career as an enumerator was over. According to news reports, more than 100,000 fellow census workers are in the same docked boat with me.

Although it took until July 28 to get the official notification, I’ve known since mid-May that my days of knocking on doors were over. Gone, too, were the paychecks. And I had had such high hopes for my government career! I’d been unemployed since March 2009 and I’d had visions of a nice hourly wage, with 20 hours a week work — at least for two or three months.

I was impressed, too, by the TV, newspaper and magazine ads, all portraying census workers as dedicated folks walking purposefully through neighborhoods with attractive “man bags” slung over their shoulders. I wanted to be one of them — knocking on doors, counting people. Working. I took the application test in mid-December and surprised myself when I passed despite math and geography questions. I got the call to work in March.

Training during the last week of April was thorough — four whole days of it, with pay and mileage. My fellow trainees were an impressive and diverse group. There were laid-off professionals, recent graduates, professors and retired government workers — all serious about working. We dealt with issues we might face, such as language barriers and dogs. We got a package with materials including two No. 2 pencils and a sharpener much like the ones I had in grammar school.

Finally, we were ready to go “out in the field.” I was more than a little intimidated, but I had been trained, I had been fingerprinted and I had a pair of comfortable shoes. My group was assigned to track down residents of apartment buildings to check up on those who had not returned their census forms and filled in their information.

The people I counted were nice and for the most part very helpful when it came to their information. After less than 30 days, we covered the territory and there was no more work. No more paychecks. They even took back the man bag and the pencils. I wonder why they hired so many people, trained them, worked them for such a short time, then terminated them. But I have a great idea.

If the federal government ever decides to use some of the stimulus money for jobs for people whose expertise is not building roads or constructing road signs, etc., I suggest the powers that be consider reviving the Works Progress Administration, which reportedly provided about 8 million jobs during the Great Depression. Jobs including launching arts and literacy programs, not just construction work.