UPDATE: (Authorities are now saying the census workers apparently committed suicide but made it look like a murder. Here’s a link to a Washington Post article on the case.)
The apparent killing of a census worker has got me sick to my stomach this morning.
We don’t know all the circumstances of his death, but the few facts given out by the police are disturbing.
A U.S. Census worker found hanged from a tree near a Kentucky cemetery had the word “fed” scrawled on his chest, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment.
The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word on the chest of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and teacher. He was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky.
We don’t know what really happened to this poor guy, but it got me thinking about how many of us perceive any individual that goes door to door for their job — we tend not to hold them in high esteem, right?
But going door-to-door is an honorable job folks. It may not be a choice you’d make but many people make a living at it. It’s hard to say how many people do this type of work because a lot of it is off the books and temporary, but I’ve heard estimates that more than 25,000 individuals are out their hitting the pavement each day. Wages can go from minimum wage to more than $20 an hour.
The actual job can be a scary but also enriching.
I wrote about this job choice for MSNBC.com a while back, and I heard from many individuals who hate door-to-door sales people and I also heard from the workers themselves.
Carol from New York wrote:
When my husband’s not home, I don’t open doors. My 135 pound Rottie is my early warning system. If she doesn’t know them, they do NOT get in. Sorry if that’s their living, but I’m not taking any chances. Too many crooks and crazies on the streets these days…
I don’t blame people for being afraid, but many of us have gone over the top, no?
Here’s a great perspective from one of the “crazies”:
Sabrina from Portland, Oregon wrote:
I have worked for an environmental activist group that did go door to door to raise awareness and also fundraise. I had to put up with all types of people who complained, yelled at me, and lied to me. I also had to work through wind, rain, and once got bitten in the leg by a crazy dog. But then there were the days when I was able to meet some really kind and generous people who were just as concerned as I was, and who were able to lend a hand, or a spare dollar or two if they had it. It gave me hope, in an increasingly cynical and apathetic world of people to see the few and far in between who were willing to open a door. And let someone in out of the rain. So please keep on knocking, there’s hope out there yet!
I’m so glad Sabrina has hope for the world. Given the vitriol on radio and TV, it seems people are so angry anything can happen.
The Census officials are so nervous about it they suspended all activity in rural Clay County where the alleged murder took place, according to the AP.
There will be more than one million Census workers heading out to towns across the country next year, and already thousands are out there doing preliminary work for the federal agency. And I’m sure many of you have noticed more solicitors coming to your homes lately, a function of a bad economy experts say.
Shouldn’t we try to take some advice from our doormats and be more welcoming?
September 24th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Your home is most assuredly your right to privacy.Of course this right has been under assault for as long as our country has been a nation and politicians compete for your vote. Free enterprise does dictate and rightfully so your right to persue a livlihood. Even if 99.9% of individuals who venture to your front door, or property are there to simply solicit a product, or service, or political ideology, or even just say ‘Hi’, what about the .1 or less percent who attempt to steal, injure or even kill you? It has happened. And often it those who are so cordial that are ‘marked’. I would sell you something if you open the door, I am sure of it. If I were a desperate drug addict or simply an insidious human toilet full of evil, could I get you to open the door? If I were, I would count on it.
Your idea of ‘WELCOME’ is absolutely fine and one that I aspire to. If a neighbor wants to stop by, or sometimes a stranger with the simple intent of making your aquaintance, then by all means, WELCOME.I’ve had strangers come by during the holidays and thank me for taking the time to put up my elaborate display of lights. I’ve had them stop by in the summer time while I was doing yard work stop and tell me how much they look forward to seeing it.
‘No Tresspassing’, ‘No Soliciting’, Private Property’ …are postings that are opposite of ‘WELCOME’. You have every right to ‘mark’ yourself as such just as a crinimal will’mark’ your kindness with austerity.
As far as the census taker goes, we apparently do not have all the information. It is horiible. It also illustrates WHY in this digital age we even need anyone to go door to door to count heads. Every birth is recorded. Every death is recorded. Every individual who enrolls in our school is recorded. I recall I was fined $60 for not changing my address on my driver’s license.Door to door census takers were necessary when these things were poorly kept track of. The only excuse I can think of to simply not have up to the second you are born record of occupancy in your home is ignorance and stupidity or a lack of electricity.This would be common in Appalachian Mountain areas and slums. To further illustrate our ignorance, these are the people who need the most help and recieve the leat attention. If you were a door to door salesman , would you even bother to approach such a neighborhood?
Speaking of which, the idea of allowing illegal aliens to apply for driver’s licenses, good idea.It is the easiest way to find them.
September 25th, 2009 at 9:59 am
I must say that there’s a quaint charm about door-to-door sales people. I’m sure my feelings would be different if they dropped by as often as telemarketers call, but I respect the hard work and self-motivation that such people exhibit.
Sadly, most door-to-door sales I encounter these days are children or college students. The former typically fundraising for school or community organizations, and the latter normally selling magazine subscriptions. I love to see the kids out there selling door to door, but have noticed a sad trend lately: many groups are discouraging kids from going door-to-door because of fears of “stranger danger”, abduction, or worse.
All of my kids have participated in fundraisers for their youth organizations, and some of them have done remarkably well. Selling $1,800 worth of Girl Scout Cookies in February in Minnesota is no simple feat, especially since 95% of those sales were door to door. I loved watching my kids go from shy little ones who were almost afraid of knocking on a strange door, to being older kids who actually learned persuasive sales techniques to try and secure a sale, like not ending with a yes/no question in your pitch (”which kind do you prefer?” vs. “would you like to buy some?”). Those fundraisers were the reason my kids made it to camps and special events some years.
Ending my tangent and getting back to the topic at hand, yes, I do believe we should be more welcoming. I’ve taught my kids to skip houses that have “No Soliciting” signs, and we try to be cordial when we answer the door, even if we cannot afford to buy. We lived in the central part of a city for a time, so I do realize that many people don’t like to open their doors after dark (which, in Minnesota and other northern locales, can be before 4 PM in the midst of winter), but what about placing a sign on or near your door that lists your preferred times for visitors or soliciters. How about, “Visitors please stop by during daylight hours.” Let’s communicate more, rather than less.
And if we want to feel more safe in our neighborhoods, we need to be out in them more, not closed away in our homes. We lived in a scary area once, but decided that the only way we could reclaim our block was for us to be out and about. Some of our neighbors felt the same way. In time, it wasn’t a perfect block, but we weren’t afraid when someone knocked on our doors. Most often, it was a neighbor saying hello or seeking help with a need. We really do need each other. Let’s be more welcoming, and let’s open our doors more often.