Counting the people

I got a job with the census and spent four days in training last week. Talk about having my life turned upside down! I became a working mom for a very short time and I have to say, I don't know how you do it, ladies. Preparing breakfasts before I left the house, traveling through rush hour traffic, coming home tired to no dinner and then doing school work with the girls and collapsing into bed. I missed my girls! I am so grateful I am able to homeschool and spend so much time with them.

Training was for the most part very tedious with an emphasis on detail in paperwork. One day, though, we were partnered to go out on the streets and practice what we had learned. Our class had a wide assortment of people, many without cars, and people with cars were paired with those without. I admit there were several men I would not have wanted to be alone with, so I was praying for another woman. But my partner could not have been more different from me! She was young, brash, and tough. She had attitude and she did not at all look happy to be with me. So there we went.

We had a little bit of a drive to our area and we made small talk, but she was very closed, not at all liking the situation. We arrived, gathered our paperwork and boldly set forth. We met several friendly, kind people who opened their doors to us and in no time we were relaxed and laughing and learning to trust each other. Then we connected as only women can. We shared stories of our families. Maybe two women can always find common ground, if we give it a shot. By the end our time together, I felt I had made a new friend. My partner said several times, "It didn't think I would like this job, but I had such a good time."

Back at training, in her loud, forceful way, she petitioned the supervisor to allow partnerships on the field after the training was over. We had decided this was a much safer and effective way to gather census information. The two of us had covered a lot of ground and accomplished a lot. But, of course, efficiency is not the way of our government. I would find that out more as the days went on. Safety is not a concern either, even though it is stated as such, but later I found out differently.