It's About the Beach

I worked from home today, and thank heavens! I would have missed the visit from the Census Bureau, and our federal government would have had to spend another several hundred dollars it doesn't have to complete its American Community Survey. It seems the "U.S. Census Bureau chose my address, not me personally, as part of a randomly selected sample." I was "required by U.S. law to respond to this survey."

Yes, a U.S. Census Bureau worker appeared at my door and handed me a letter to this effect. I had twice received forms in the mail with a notation in bold print, all caps, "YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. I didn't ignore them exactly, I picked the second edition up and put it in my computer bag and carried it to Manitowoc, Wisconsin and twice to Rockford, Illinois. I had picked it out of my computer bag the day before, winced and told myself--"You have to put this on your to-do list, and get it done, this week, at least."

But my wife came home and said, "can you take an hour off and walk on the beach with me? I need the exercise." So we drove over, parked the car and walked past the beach grill and bar to our walk. After our 45 minutes on the beach, as we walked past the grill, we decided to stop for a grilled grouper sandwich. Sitting in the afternoon sun on a crisp October afternoon, I was all about the beach. By the time we arrived home, my to-do list was not in the picture. The next morning, shortly after I had finished answering my emails and a couple of expense reports (and updating that to-do list), here was the U.S. government at my door, in the person of a pleasant middle-aged woman with her hair tied up in an officious-looking bun handing me a letter. The letter went on "to emphasize that any information you give our representative will be kept confidential. By law, the Census Bureau cannot publish or release to anyone any information that would identify you or your household." Whew!

Her first question--"do you remember getting two letters in the mail?" After apologizing profusely, I invited her in and answered a few questions. As she left, I apologized again. She just said, "oh, if it weren't for this, I might not have a job anyway." So, there it is, in miniature, the federal deficit and I am in the middle of it. It's all about the beach.