After spending the last 12 or so months searching for my ancestors, when the opportunity arose several months ago to apply to be a Census Collector for the Census I jumped at the chance.
It filled a couple of criteria for me in that it
- Got me back in to work, part-time, and with semi flexible hours
- I thought it would be interesting
- I knew how informative and vital census records can be in tracking down people
- It meant that I could get some 'regular' exercise
If only I knew what I was signing up for! Just kidding, I got thrown a curve ball or two, but for the most part it was a pretty awesome experience. I'm not sure I'd do it again, but it probably wouldn't be an outright "No" either. I can't really go into a lot of detail because of the confidentiality involved, but it was an interesting six weeks of work. Most people I encountered were helpful, friendly and willing to participate. I had a few who grumbled about what we needed a Census for, but once they had done that, accepted their papers. I came a cross people I knew, though not nearly as many as I was expecting initially. The weather couldn't have been more awesome for it...though it wasn't that great for the region as a whole, since due to a lack of rain, we are now in the middle of a water shortage! I climbed more steps than I could count, more times that I would have wished.
I hope I have made a difference, and that 100 years from now someone might be able to find an ancestor because of what work I have done. We did our forms online, but it was suggested to me, that because we had our paper forms and they would only end up in our recycling bin anyway, that we should fill them out instead. So I did, and now the boys, or any other of our descendants, don't have to wait 100 years to find out what is in them.
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