Dear Director of the U.S. Census Bureau,
You sent me a letter, so I thought it only polite if I responded with one of my own. Your letter stated that “about one week from now, (I) will receive a 2010 Census form in the mail.” It went on to ask me to fill out said form and mail it promptly. It told me about how important my involvement is and where money would go in my neighborhood.
That’s all well and good, but I have a question. Why? Why did you send me this?
In with the census form I got in the mail a few days later, a similarly worded letter was included. This is your census form, we want to count the people, send it back right away, the government will give money to schools, for roads, to help the elderly, blah, blah, blah. And this letter was smaller, about half the size of the original. So less paper equals less money. And it didn’t even need its own envelope.
Do I really need a “warning letter” to let me know the census is coming? Especially one sent in the same manner as the census itself? If I don’t check my mail, I wouldn’t get either. I heard the radio commercials and saw the television ones. I knew the census was coming.
How much money did sending letters to every single household in the United States cost? I assume it wasn’t just a letter to me because you know I’m particularly lazy. The “Dear Resident” tipped me off. If you’re going to alert me to the coming census, where was my postcard alerting me to the alert? What about a plane with skywriting telling me about the post card? That would cover an entire neighborhood. Much cheaper.
So thank you for my letter. Without it, I might have thrown away the envelope marked:
U.S. Census Form Enclosed
YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW
Sincerely,
Kelly
P.S.
I guess I spoke to soon about the postcard. I got it in the mail today, reminding me that the census had come and it was my duty (by law!) to fill it out and mail it back. I will accept your sincere thanks for already providing my census information. I (kind of) understand that some people need lots of reminders to get something as simple as writing down their own name done. But can we figure out a way to waste less money and paper? I’m still a fan of the sky writing idea.
