So the Census Bureau sent me a not-so-tidy stack of mailers. They threatened, cajoled, begged, and then called to do so again.
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
My household was to respond to the American Somethingorother Survey. Failing to reply, bad! Lying in reply, bad! Misdemeanors! Fines!
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
Hullaballoo!
Never you mind they haven't prosecuted any of these misdemeanors in recent history. They are dedicated to spending as much as
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
humanly possible to get me to answer their questions. Well, not exactly. They didn't offer cash or prizes or anything. But Paper! Postage!
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
So I finally went online and filled out the survey. And I got mad. Then I got madder. Pretty soon I was mad as any hatter ever dreamt.
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
The questions cannot possibly help the government do its job better. They were personal and completely not worthy of sharing. And some that
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
I really don't think that the government has a vested interest in knowing. I called my husband, because I didn't know all the answers and I
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
just wanted it to end already! He bristled at sharing certain things, too, and we ended up having a WE'RE BOTH SCREAMING TOWARD EACH OTHER
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
ABOUT A THIRD PARTY sort of conversation. And I huffily finished answering every question about every single person in the house. Because
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
you couldn't skip or decline to answer the questions. You couldn't go anywhere unless you answered the question on the screen.
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
Except that I could have just closed the browser. Put up with the calls and threats and whatnot. Risked BREAKING THE RULES. But I didn't.
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
I answered. Madly. Furiously and with little logic behind it.
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
And that, my lovelies, is the power of the government. It takes as much power as it is allowed and then pushes for more.
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
It spends nonsensically. It focuses on all the wrong things. It digs a deeper hole every day. And I fed the machine. It's sickening.
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
I fed a machine that was merely taunting me but is killing others. I fed a machine with information it neither needed nor earned.
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
This country is calling for revolution. We are not answering. I am not answering. I bend to rules and I am easily distracted. And revolution
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015
is forestalled yet another day. And that is the tragedy. That is what happened to America. Happy National Donut Day. Happy distraction.
— Amanda Salisbury (@shyjot) June 5, 2015