Tonight, in Australia, is Census night. That night where we all have to fill in forms and several hundred people put Jedi Knight as their religion. I know this sounds crazy but I love the Census. I love the feeling that I am giving my input into the future of our country. I even enjoy filling out all the forms.
I also enjoy doing phone surveys (providing they are not trying to sell me something). I love that my opinion matters and that I get to influence all sorts of things. I have given my opinion on plain packaging for cigarettes (I’ m in favour), who I would vote for (several times), what issues influence my vote, what toothpaste I purchase and why, how often I eat chocolate (too often). No survey is too mundane for me to have a thought about.
I think I must be on the call list of several research companies because I get a call every couple of weeks. A couple of times I have even been paid to watch some ads and talk about my “feelings” about the ad (Including 1 time when I was 9 days overdue with Hannah – I think I freaked them out and they were convinced I was going to go into labour right there. Don’t argue with a heavily pregnant woman!).
When we lived in England, I was blown away when I realised that voting wasn’t compulsory. How could you not vote? To me it is one of privileges and responsibilities of living in a democratic nation. I feel the same way about the Census. Here is an opportunity for me to voice my concerns. I know my voice is only one of thousands, but it’s my voice and I get to talk about what is important to me.
Happy Censusmas Everyone!
P.S. If you are into twitter the census twitter feed is hilarious… see @Census2011
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