On March 16, 2010, at  8 a.m. I contacted the toll free “help” number that was listed on the CENSUS packet. After spending about 10 minutes going through all of the voice prompts, I was actually connected to a real live human being.

I spoke to a woman by the name of “Latisha.” I informed her that I was just looking for an answer to a very simple question. The question that I posed to her was, “What part of the CENSUS questionnaire is mandatory that I fill out?” Her first response was for me to go to the Internet and look at the CENSUS site to find my answer. I informed her that I did not have access to the Internet. Latisha said that Statute 13 stated that it was legal for the Government to request this information. I again asked her, “what part of this form is MANDATORY for me to fill out?” She replied that she was not authorized to answer that question. I chuckled and informed her that a proper response to this question would be one of  2 options. No. 1 “Sir, the entire form is mandatory for you to fill out.” Or No. 2 “Sir, only questions No. 1-?” Latisha then asked if there was anything else she could “help” me with.

At this time I requested to speak to her supervisor. I was dispatched to a gentleman by the name of Kevin. I started the identical conversation with “the supervisor.” He went into the same answers as the girl I had previously spoken to. For the sake of saving time and boring you, this conversation ended up in the exact same manner. At the end of asking Kevin this same question for about three times, he also asked me if there was anything else he could do to “help” me.

At this point, yep you guessed it, I asked to speak to his supervisor. Another very pleasant young lady by the name of Alicia got on the phone and we went through the same path as before with the other 2 “help” line employees. She finally informed me that there was no one else there that could answer my question and suggested that I write a letter of complaint. I informed her I did not want to complain, I just wanted a very simple question answered. The address she gave me is:

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION

PAPERWORK PROJECT #OMB-0607-0919-C

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

WASHINGTON DC 20233-7100

Please feel free to flood them with an abundance of questions you would like an answer to. I know I am going to.

So… here is where I am at, writing a letter to anyone that will listen and hopefully answer my question, “WHAT PART OF THE 2010 CENSUS PACKET IS MANDATORY FOR ME TO ANSWER?” 

I’ll bet the real answer to this question should be a simple, “Sir, we can only mandate that you answer question No. 1, How many people reside in your residence on a full-time basis. That is why it is in a block all by itself and is a slightly darker shade of light blue. Thanks for calling and have nice day.”

DENNIS SPENCER

Coeur d’Alene