I was among a legion of U.S Census “enumerators” or “door knockers” as some called us. Our job was to go to residences in which the occupants, for whatever reasons, had yet to fill out the 2020 Census questionnaire.
This despite the ease of completing the form by mail, online, and telephone. And despite the millions of multi-media dollars Uncle Sam spent to advertise and remind Americans to do so and why to do so is important.
Here's a quick summary why the decennial (every 10 years) U.S. Census is important.
Receptions at the places I visited were not always as receptive as from the friendly-looking dog at this house...
...or the cordial cat at this property that let me pet him or her.
Not So Friendly Encounters
One time a young Black man, a teenager I believe, spit in my direction after I said “Hi fellas” to him and his companion as we passed on a narrow North Charleston residential street.
On a Sunday afternoon on James Island a White woman outside her home speaking on her phone was on my Census NRFU (non-responsive follow-up) list. As I walked up the stairs to speak to her she screamed: “Go away! A family member just died.” She said it a few more times in case I (or other people within a mile radius) didn't hear her outburst the first time.
A man a few doors down who heard the distraught woman said to me how rude the woman was. “Someone in her family just died,” I said, trying to defend her (I guess).
“But still,” the man said from the boat he was cleaning in his driveway. Good point, I thought to myself.
The enumerating work would take me to many neighborhoods. From public housing in Charleston...
...to expensive Mount Pleasant neighborhoods. It was interesting to experience diverse geography, demography and home styles in North Charleston, Charleston and East Cooper.
The majority of encounters with people who answered the door when I knocked or rang were fine.
Over several weeks of work, there was a handful of negative experiences and I have to say most occurred in neighborhoods most people would consider upscale and high end.
“Too busy,” “It’s not a good time”, and “I’m good” were among the reasons residents didn’t want to give me 10 minutes to complete the U.S. Census questions Americans have been asked and begged to complete since April.
The Field Data Capture system on the iPhones issued to enumerators gave me my daily cases, i.e. residences to visit. Workers would make notes on each effort to complete a questionnaire. This included comments like the above from people not being cooperative.
The phone took some getting used to but it proved much better and more efficient than the mostly paper system 10 years ago when I enumerated for the 2010 U.S. Census.
I recall my surprise one day when a young man who was about to leave in his car saw me coming to his house and said "I work for the Census." Oh, are you an enumerator too, I asked? No, I work in the main office in Charleston he said.
"You work for the Census and you haven't filled out the questionnaire!" I blurted back. "I haven't gotten around to it was his answer." Kind of lame, I thought, but he got counted as he let me interview him, entering his information into my iPhone.
Twice I attempted to interview the agitated man in Mt. Pleasant who would say "I'm good" and brusquely close his door. Previous worker comments noted his abrasiveness. I finally went across the street and interviewed a neighbor instead, which we were to do after several unsuccessful attempts at a residence. This "proxy" as they are referred was helpful, but did not know his neighbor's name. This is how and why a percentage of Americans do not get counted in the Census.
Masked Precautions Not So Hot (especially when it was hot)
Due to the pandemic, mask-wearing was required. It took getting used to but was of course understandable. On hot days it became very uncomfortable.
I’m glad to have participated and completed my second Census work experience. The value of “door knockers” is apparent when viewing final state by state completion figures. As I write this on Oct. 19 every state except Louisiana reports 99.9 percent “housing unit enumeration progress” (Louisiana is at 99.0 percent). See all 50 states' response rates here.
The percent figure is divided by self-response (people who completed the Census form by mail, online or phone) and enumerated (questionnaires completed by the army of workers on the street like myself). The latter figure is in the low to high 30 percent range in most states. South Carolina’s was among the highest with 38.9 percent accomplished the door to door, face to face way.
So it feels good to have served the federal government and country this way. My car and I logged hundreds of miles together (the travel was compensated by 57 cents a mile; pay was $14.50 an hour). And I gained new appreciation for my Mazda 6’s GPS system that made it easy to find where I needed to go.
It was neat for me to see so many parts and neighborhoods in the Charleston area I hadn’t seen before.
"Outer Banks" TV Show Encounter
Soon we will see whether this Hampton Park resident with the clever presidential election sign will get his or her wish for a new man in the White House.
Census 2020 Stops and Starts
I first applied for Census work at the end of 2019 after seeing advertisements in the newspaper. I thought then it would be summer work, which would work well for me since school would be out.
My Census fieldwork actually began in March with two days of training, then canvassing work.
This earlier phase involved verifying addresses, adding ones not in the system...
...and leaving these packets containing Census questionnaires at doors where people had yet to respond.
In those early days of Covid-19, we were told not to knock on doors, to not try to speak to residents, just leave the bags at the door.
This actually made the work easier, not to mention safer.
For this phase of work we were issued laptops. After the training I got in all of two days of fieldwork then operations were halted due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Workers actually would be paid for 12 hours of work for several weeks during this shutdown. The canvassing stage would be then be canceled. It would be early September before it was deemed safe enough for the NRFU "door knocker" phase to commence.
In the fall, the Census would become political with the Republican U.S. Commerce Secretary ordering enumeration work be halted on September 30. A federal judge in California (a Democrat I presume) overruled that and extended our work until the first two weeks, then the end of October.
Then, the U.S. Supreme Court got involved and ordered work to stop on October 15 (by early October South Carolina was up to about a 98.5 completion rate).
In 2020, nothing comes easy!
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