Being Counted

I had a surreal phone conversation last night with a representative from the United States Census Bureau. Like most folks who do what they’re told to do within reason most of the time, I filled out the census form back in April. Didn’t you? It was extremely easy to do, so easy as to almost be disappointing, at least to me. I love answering questions and using whatever platform there is to speak my mind. (Probably why I love writing on these pages every week.)

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I got a notice in the mail that I was selected at random for a follow-up interview. I was really excited. Perhaps this second round of questioning would get beyond the basics of how old I was, what my ethnic background was, etc. and ask me what I did for a living, etc. Ever the new music evangelist, I thought I’d have a government sanctioned bully pulpit for once.

But it turns out, when I returned the message from a census bureau representative on my answering machine last night, the line of questioning was almost exactly the same as what I had already filled out, with tons of repetition to boot. After asking about my race, I was asked about it in tons of other ways, all of which apparently was necessary to reinforce the information I had already given. It all lasted only about ten minutes, hardly something to be terribly annoyed about in the ultimate scheme of things, but it did make me ponder.

Might that time have been better spent if I was asked questions that pertained to what I actually do as a person, rather than where my ancestors may or may not have come from? If the government would ask in such a census, say, what everyone’s background is vis-à-vis cultural activities, it might be a boon for arts eduction and arts funding in this country. It might reveal how many people in this country participate in the arts and how vital these activities are in their lives. Perhaps our so-often-perceived-of-as-small world of new music might even get revealed to be much larger than any of us would have imagined.