A Day in the Life of a Census Worker

Being a government employee isn't as exciting as it's cracked up to be.

Sure, I get to knock on people's doors and flash my ID, and yes, I can call people up and scare them with the ol' "I'm calling you on behalf of an agency of the Government of Canada" bit, but it still gets old after a while.

Plus there's that whole census thing. You see, my job revolves around getting lazy fellow-citizens to complete their forms. They were supposed to be mailed in on May 16th, and that is the law.

I don't get paid by the hour. It's by the form. It supposedly averages out to about eleven and a half bucks an hour, but that's only if you go door to door.

That's what I did yesterday. I sweat for a bunch of hours, and it came out to about $10 an hour. Not bad, you say.

Well, today I decided that since it is so insanely hot outside, I'd go through people over the phone. I made seven bucks today! Yay! I mean, sure, it took five minutes to do it, but that kinda bites. I'm starting to wish I had a desk job with some steady pay.

I'll head out into the heat tommorow to chase people down and grab their info. I'll make a little scratch, and I'll work on my tan.

Just a quick rundown of all the my zany run-ins while going door to door. (Since I am under an affirmation/oath of secrecy, I cannot share any specific information, nor can I reveal anyone's identites):

• the Filipino family with Tam-Tams in their kitchen
• the 17 year old guy living alone in a house (probably a drug dealer)
• the super paranoid Russian guy
• the house with the insane dog
• the house with the insane dog#2
• the house with the insane dog#3
• 6 guys doing co-ordinated dance moves on the driveway
• the sweaty half-naked guy who insisted that he couldn't fill out the forms because 'he had someone over'
• the house covered in gypsy moth caterpillars