EASTERN ARIZONA--So I'm on the travel team to AZ and so far things have been great! They had me working in a beautiful mountainous area full of friendly people enjoying their vacation homes.
Well, today that changed.
DAY 1-- I am in a very beat up and shady-looking area in the middle of nowhere. One of my first cases was marked as a dangerous location and the case notes stated that the respondent threatened to kill the previous enumerator.
Ok, great-- let's find a proxy.
All of the neighbors had locked gates with posted NO TRESPASSING KEEP OUT signs. I finally found a home with no gates or signs. I asked him about the neighbors and he proceeded to go on and on about how the majority of homes in this area were meth labs or tweakers. He begged me not to go down the street because that's where the labs are and I have a very high chance of getting killed or robbed by meth heads. On top of that I heard from another enumerator that their proxy said watch out for booby-trapped meth labs and land mines in yards. Wish me luck because all my cases are in this area.
DAY 2 --So today in my second day in meth land I get to my first case. The home has an open gate but with a huge no trespassing sign. Now I know we are allowed to go on the property but my anxiety has been so high working in this area that I decided just to leave the Notice of Visit (NOV) on the gate and not take any chances.
As I’m sitting in my car filling out the NOV, I see the homeowner getting into his truck and driving up to me. I start thinking of every possible death scenario that is about to happen to me. Finally I introduce myself and he seems grouchy because he already filled out the census, but he ended up being nice after that.
After the interview he tells me how concerned he is for my safety because apparently “the vast majority of the town hates black people,” and he brings up the meth lab and weed farm issue again. He said he was very shocked and disappointed that they would send a young, black woman to this area alone and to be very, very careful.
I am so over this and I just want to go home. I am always so terrified just to knock on any doors around here. You can just tell by the way the people look at me and talk to me that they don’t want me here. I went to the town’s only gas station to get some snacks and I was clearly standing in line. This old, white man looked me in my eyes and took my place in line. The cashiers didn’t even say anything to him and they were watching, too.
Also, this is the middle of nowhere. And when I mean the middle of nowhere there isn't even a Walmart or McDonalds in the area. There is no phone service and the FDC/GPS (census phone device) barely works. On top of that all of the roads are just faint tire tracks in fields or dirt with a foot drop that makes your car feel like it's about to flip, and boulders/bushes/barb wire that you literally have do drive over to get through. I am dreading going to work tomorrow but luckily it is the last day here.
DAY 3--My last day in Arizona was pretty uneventful. My last case was at a very sketchy trailer with about 12 angry pitbulls barking at me from behind a flimsy fence.
I decided I didn’t want to be mauled by dogs so I went back to the hotel to rest.
--Allie
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