Around March 18, 2010, I got my official 2010 Census form from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau. Nicely printed, well presented. Kinda made me think that this was money well spent.
Eager to find what kind of questions would be asked, and with an eye to refuting the reports that they were asking inappropriate questions, I opened it up and began to actually read each and every question. (I'll ruin the surprise, it's pretty benign.)
In the opening section, no less that FOUR references are made to April 1, 2010, e.g. how many folks resided at this residence on April 1, 2010. I present this image scanned directly from the form here:
OK, so I set it aside and read the cover letter. Why not? I paid for that, too! It is dated on March 15, 2010, suggesting that they did some serious planning to get that right. Think about it - millions of these were printed and mailed and it arrived soon after they were dated. From a pure project management perspective, this is impressive. I present the letter here:
But reading closer, I see that they want me to reply quickly. I like the tone of urgency and importance that our Director of the U.S. Census Bureau had struck. Even BOLD type to emphasize the idea of filling it out right away.
But wait a minute! The official form - that I fill out incorrectly only to my peril - asks for information dated April 1, 2010, but here I'm being asked to provide that very information two weeks earlier! OK, now I'm confused. Should I lie? What if my house burns down and I have to move before then? What if I decide to move on the spur of the moment?
Out of a pure ethical motive, I decide to wait and mail it on April 1, 2010.
But it gets better. I get another reminder a week later Mr. Groves, dated March 22, 2010.
Again, I aplaud the timeliness of the document, but again it asks me to fill it out before the date on which I am to certify the information is correct.
Certainly, I'll fill out the document. Certainly I'll ensure it's correct as of April 1, 2010. It's just interesting that I have to do it in the context of being asked to do something wrong. How would YOU handle this situation?
