Census taker tried to open my front door!

[AustinTink]

Any chance he thought you lived in a duplex? My son delivers papers and sometimes it's hard to tell which houses are houses, and which are duplexes. There's several houses where he actually has to go in through the front door, in order to get to the REAL front door.

Our new mailman made that mistake at our house, because we have double doors, so it kind of looks like there's another door behind our front door. I found him standing in the foyer looking very confused with our mail in his hand. He apologized a whole lot, gave me my mail, and never made that mistake again.

Occasionally Christmas packages get dropped off inside the door, too. I'm never sure if that's a mistake, or if they're trying to make sure the packages don't get stolen off our porch...

Nope. Single family home, no screen door and the front door is very clear to be the only entry into the front of the house. Imagine our surprise to see the door handle moving and jiggling. I was looking for a large object at that point to hit him with if he made it in!

 

[TangaroaTiki]

I saw through the peephole it was a census worker and didn't answer. I have already done my duty filing my census form. I don't answer the door to strangers, including census workers.

Regardless, neither one of the questions you asked would change the fact that he tried to enter my home unlawfully.

Perfectly logical questions as it would never occur to me not to answer a knock at my front door. Even for a census worker, considering the census was already sent in.

 

[brerrabbit]

Please don't let any Census worker try this where I live. They will be met with the business end of a large assortment of guns and have some serious explaining to do.

 

[AustinTink]

Perfectly logical questions as it would never occur to me not to answer a knock at my front door. Even for a census worker, considering the census was already sent in.

If I don't know the person on the other side of the door, it doesn't get answered. Period. If it's something legitimate they can leave a card or a note.

 

[wdwcoltsfan]

Perfectly logical questions as it would never occur to me not to answer a knock at my front door. Even for a census worker, considering the census was already sent in.

Are you implying that it is acceptable for the census worker to try to open the door if they knocked first or are you trying to figure out if the OP had a heads up that someone was at the door?

Rachel

 

[Liberty Belle]

Yikes!

We turned ours in, as well, and had a worker come to our door. He didn't try to break in, though! He did say that several people have turned it in (or say/thought they had) and they weren't showing up.

 

[wdwcoltsfan]

If I don't know the person on the other side of the door, it doesn't get answered. Period. If it's something legitimate they can leave a card or a note.

I'm trying to figure out what was going through this person's head.If you didn't acknowledge him at the door, then what did he think he was going to accomplish by going into an empty home? The possibilities are scary! If he thought you were home, but just ignoring him, I can't imagine his face if he opened the door and you were standing there. Seriously, what's he going to say, "Please don't call the police! Oh, by the way, how many people live here?"

Rachel

 

[IDoDis]

How do you know it was a census worker that was at your door if you didn't open the door?

 

[AustinTink]

How do you know it was a census worker that was at your door if you didn't open the door?

Peephole.

 

[walden]

OK. Now I am confused. There is a missing piece here.

A person came to your door. You looked through the peephole saw a stranger, but did not answer. He then tried the door. I would have called the police immediately if that had happened, assuming a burglar not a census worker.

My census worker came in broad daylight, rang the doorbell, and had her ID in her hand to show me when I opened the door. No big deal. She was here 5 minutes. However, she wasn't wearing a uniform* or carrying a big red sign saying "Census."

Note, even if you sent in your form they do try to double check a random sampling. Perfectly OK, and in line with good research methodology.

*ETA. She wasn't wearing an obvious uniform that I remember, just dark pants and a white blouse, and definitely not a uniform I could see through the peephole.

 

[yoopermom]

Census worker here, there's NEVER an excuse to try the doorknob/handle like that! We wore ordinary clothes but had our i.d. badge prominently around our neck, and I used to hold mine in front of me when I approached the door so the person on the other side could see it.

We did have trouble up here in the country where so many homes have breezeways or mudrooms. We were NOT allowed to enter them (or a garage) to get to the "main" door, even though we could tell the person inside couldn't possibly hear us. We just left our notice trapped in the screen door or attached to the glass.

This person should have been reported to the local census office, if not the police. Our badges were not very "tricky" and could have been easily duplicated by someone with bad intentions.

Terri

 

[Art 1]

That could get one shot at some houses.

 

[mrodgers]

That could get one shot at some houses.

A coworker friend of mine owns a gun and shooting club. He got a knock on the door one day by some group, Jehovah's Witness or something. It was a pair of older and younger female. He opened the door to walk out on his way to "shooting night" just as they were about to knock.

He just looked at them and said, "today isn't a good day...." Imagine what they thought seeing him with 2 ammo belts crossed across his chest, belt with a pistol strapped to each hip, rifles hanging over each shoulder, another rifle in one arm with 2 or 3 boxes of ammo in the other arm. He said he had never actually seen someone's color drain from their face until that moment.

I'll have to ask him if he's had any census workers stop by his place.

 

[PaulaSue]

OP they might not have been a worker and just posing.

 

[mickman1962]

It's not the America I thought it was.


http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2010/05/26/census-workers-can-enter-your-apartment-in-your-absence/

 

[yoopermom]

Mickman, I'm pretty darn conservative, and I sat through DAYS of intensely detailed census training, but I have NO idea what that blogger is talking about! All I can imagine is the following scenario: an apt. building requires you to be "buzzed" in, census worker can ask manager to buzz him/her in so that s/he can knock at individual apartment doors. There is NO WAY any census worker would actually cross your apartment door threshold without your permission. In the case of two homes sharing one building (say a basement apt) where the access is through a common hall, one renter would be allowed to let me in to knock at the door of the other renter (which may be within the same house, obviously).

Now I did ask one apt. manager to pass my contact info on to a renter who I was having a hard time getting ahold of. If he would have offered me the renter's phone number, I would have taken it, but I wouldn't have expected him to. For example, I had an apt. neighbor give me the name of the person I was looking for, in which case I used a phone book to look up his phone number. I would not have ASKED for the phone number.

I know I won't change your mind, but I hate to see such a skewing of the facts.

Terri

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

It's not the America I thought it was.


http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2010/05/26/census-workers-can-enter-your-apartment-in-your-absence/

Since this is a legal issue (not political), I will respond with a point made in the comments section of the article linked:

This is a pretty liberal reading of the code! The relevant language is at Title 13, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, § 223 of the US Code. The section prevents the owner or manger of “any hotel, apartment house, boarding or lodging house, tenement, or other building” from refusing to provide a list of the buildings occupants or providing access to “such premises”. This means a building’s owner or manger cannot refuse to let a census worker into or out of the building and cannot refuse to provide a list of occupants for the purpose of the census count. The penalty for refusal is $500. No where in the section does it authorize entry into individual apartments, lodgings, or “living quarters”.

The relevant code section is found at:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode13/usc_sec_13_00000223----000-.html

 

[Sparx]

I wonder if it was someone posing as a census worker, hoping you'd open the door and let him in.

 

[mom2d&b]

Comming up in early July is a new census operation. There will be follow up visits to a number of homes.

 

[buckler]

If I don't know the person on the other side of the door, it doesn't get answered. Period. If it's something legitimate they can leave a card or a note.

When someone comes to your door you should somehow make it known that someone is home. You don't have to open the door, just make some kind of noise. You could say "we're not interested" through the closed door, turn on the tv or even play a recording of a large dog barking . This is to scare off people that are looking for empty homes to burglarize. If they think the house is empty because you were quiet, their next step might be to try to break in.