In a message dated 98-01-27 22:27:37 EST, you write: << The pay isn't bad and the mileage pay is pretty good- but you can't be overly timid or easily frightened by your surroundings ... >> I agree that taking census was a fascinating job. I didn't get paid when I did it, except for mileage, which was good. It was a special census year, for our city alone, but it was a federal census, and under the same set of rules. My church entered into a contract with the city, which was paying for it, and church members did it as volunteers, with the church getting paid. If you are interested in people, you meet all kinds.. interesting, rude, and sometimes frightening. I became skilled at getting difficult ones, so I was sent back to get those which the first enumerators couldn't get, for whatever reason. One house had a sign in the yard: "No Trespassing. Especially Govt Agents. Violators Shot on Sight." I got the information. The census asked to choose one of several choices for race, which turned out to be one of the more difficult questions. One person who looked to be of Scandinavian ancestry said he was black, another said very earnestly that he couldn't figure out what his children were, and even he and his wife were each mixed races (which was not an option). It was very intriguing. Toni, HB, CA