Why is the Government watching me and you
Why is the Government watching Me and you
I openly oppose the government - by that I mean, oppose big government.
I am not in favor of more and more government control. When I talk to people about my concerns about the government being too big, having too much control - I usually get that “he is crazy” look.
Well, four months ago my name was part of the census program thingy. Every month for three months the same guy shows up at my door asking me questions the government needs to know. For three months, every month - the same darn questions:
Who lives here?
How old are we?
Do we work?
How many hours do you work?
Do you have more than one job or PT job?
I was being nice, patient - I know that currently the jobs numbers are very important. The government wants to know who is working and who is not ??? Check the tax rolls fools…. But, again, I was being nice and even though it was getting on my nerves I did my best to answer the same questions over and over and over again.
Then I received a letter, it was the United States of America, I was being told I had to take a survey or I may be jailed ??? I thought it was a scam and ignored it. Then came a second letter, they have been trying to reach me? Then it was a voice message - the government really wanted me to take this survey. I had had enough, I was not taking this survey. Yet the messages kept coming at weird hours of the day - my wife was starting to get nervous.
Finally, on Saturday January 2nd 2010 while I slept in, my wife passed me the phone, guess what - it was the "united states of America", the census wanting to talk to little old me. That I really needed to take this simple 20 min survey - what, ????
Tired, sleepy and upset at my wife for giving me the phone I said sure, might as well so they would stop bothering me.
Again - asking me the same old questions, do I still live at this address, how many kids, same job, how many hours - then it got strange…..
The government wanted to know what I was doing on my free time. Believe it or not - the young lady wanted to know what I did from 4 am Friday the 1st 2010 until 4 am sat. the 2nd 2010 ????? That is when I stopped being nice. What the hell, my attitude changed completely.
When I asked her why the government needed to know what I did on my free time and what relevance that had with the census - her reply was:
“ It is so we can make laws for the recreational time of retired, free time of workers such as parks and recreational enjoyment.”
What the ????
You [ the US government ] needs to know what I did yesterday on my free time so you can make laws?????
Let me see - so if I say I stayed home and watched TV all day - you wont build parks ???
What kind of stupid do you take me for?
Why do you need to know exactly what I did - then I really got mad, just to be a pain I said:
“ I woke up, played with my kids and watched TV - happy…”
But that wasn’t good enough, for some reason the government wanted more details and when I argued why - it was the same old rhetoric: We need it to help make laws for the recreational time of retired, working class and their free time.
After 10 minutes of arguing with her and no real answers - she asked me if I wanted to take the survey [ she should have asked that question first ] I said no, I don’t. She then said that it was helpful if I took the twenty minute survey but that is was ok - so I hung up….
Ofcourse my wife thinks the government may arrest me for not taking the survey but hey, I thought we lived in a free country?
Do you think I did wrong?
Would you have gladly told the US government what you did from 4 am to 4 am???
Do you even find it strange they wanted to know exactly what I did ???
I openly oppose the government - by that I mean, oppose big government.
I am not in favor of more and more government control. When I talk to people about my concerns about the government being too big, having too much control - I usually get that “he is crazy” look.
Well, four months ago my name was part of the census program thingy. Every month for three months the same guy shows up at my door asking me questions the government needs to know. For three months, every month - the same darn questions:
Who lives here?
How old are we?
Do we work?
How many hours do you work?
Do you have more than one job or PT job?
I was being nice, patient - I know that currently the jobs numbers are very important. The government wants to know who is working and who is not ??? Check the tax rolls fools…. But, again, I was being nice and even though it was getting on my nerves I did my best to answer the same questions over and over and over again.
Then I received a letter, it was the United States of America, I was being told I had to take a survey or I may be jailed ??? I thought it was a scam and ignored it. Then came a second letter, they have been trying to reach me? Then it was a voice message - the government really wanted me to take this survey. I had had enough, I was not taking this survey. Yet the messages kept coming at weird hours of the day - my wife was starting to get nervous.Finally, on Saturday January 2nd 2010 while I slept in, my wife passed me the phone, guess what - it was the "united states of America", the census wanting to talk to little old me. That I really needed to take this simple 20 min survey - what, ????
Tired, sleepy and upset at my wife for giving me the phone I said sure, might as well so they would stop bothering me.
Again - asking me the same old questions, do I still live at this address, how many kids, same job, how many hours - then it got strange…..
The government wanted to know what I was doing on my free time. Believe it or not - the young lady wanted to know what I did from 4 am Friday the 1st 2010 until 4 am sat. the 2nd 2010 ????? That is when I stopped being nice. What the hell, my attitude changed completely.
When I asked her why the government needed to know what I did on my free time and what relevance that had with the census - her reply was:
“ It is so we can make laws for the recreational time of retired, free time of workers such as parks and recreational enjoyment.”
What the ????
You [ the US government ] needs to know what I did yesterday on my free time so you can make laws?????
Let me see - so if I say I stayed home and watched TV all day - you wont build parks ???
What kind of stupid do you take me for?
Why do you need to know exactly what I did - then I really got mad, just to be a pain I said:
“ I woke up, played with my kids and watched TV - happy…”
But that wasn’t good enough, for some reason the government wanted more details and when I argued why - it was the same old rhetoric: We need it to help make laws for the recreational time of retired, working class and their free time.
After 10 minutes of arguing with her and no real answers - she asked me if I wanted to take the survey [ she should have asked that question first ] I said no, I don’t. She then said that it was helpful if I took the twenty minute survey but that is was ok - so I hung up….
Ofcourse my wife thinks the government may arrest me for not taking the survey but hey, I thought we lived in a free country?
Do you think I did wrong?
Would you have gladly told the US government what you did from 4 am to 4 am???
Do you even find it strange they wanted to know exactly what I did ???
Comments
I think you did the right thing. Many others would have just hung up on them.