LOS ANGELES COUNTY--First of all, getting into some of these buildings was challenging at times with Covid and all that. But I got into the building and walked to the door and I knock and there’s this little old Chinese lady walking back and forth in the hall, and she looks at me and I'm knocking at the door, and then she starts saying something. But of course, she's talking in Chinese, and I go, I’m sorry, ma'am. I don't understand.
And then I point to the door, like, is this your door? and I point to her, and then she nods, Yes. And I say, Any English? And then she says, No, but she grabs my pen and starts writing all these Chinese characters in my notebook. And I looked at her and I'm smiling, "I don't know what I can say, except I'm so sorry. I wish I could understand.”
So it happens that I'm getting ready to leave and a neighbor comes by and she knows a little bit of English, and I asked for her help. The neighbor said, “She says she wrote all that down.” I was like, "Oh, is that what she wrote down? I don’t understand it."
So the neighbor translated and the Chinese woman was smiling all the time. And I closed the case. But you know, here I had someone willing to give me information, and we just couldn't communicate. Sometimes, I am able to communicate with hand signs and by pointing. These people really want to
participate.
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One time the address was off the highway going up into the mountains and I rang and rang and knocked at the door and got nothing. So the next day was on the weekend, and it was early, 9 a.m., and I went back and rang and rang and nothing. But a truck was in the driveway and there was a company sign on it with a phone number. So I googled the company to double check the phone number, then I called it and said, "Look, I'm with the census and am trying to do an interview at such at such address and there's a truck in the driveway with this phone number. So could you call that person and tell them I'm out here because I need to talk to them.''
Five minutes later, this guy comes out and he's wearing a robe and all. I said, "I'm sorry, did I wake you? I apologize. I've been here several times and my colleagues have been here. We just need to get this done. We are coming to the end of the count."
So we finish the interview and he says, "How did you get a hold of me?" And I said, "Hey, that's your truck over there. I just got creative."
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Then sometimes nothing worked. You would introduce yourself and the people would just slam the door. And I'm like, Okay, well, thank you so much for your time...and I’d walk away. And most of those people were Caucasian.
“I have no time," they'd say.
And it wasn't a race thing. I'm Hispanic but my background is European so I look white. So I would say, "Just give me the minimum, how many people live here?
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There was a lot of mistrust so I would tell people they didn't have to give me their name or phone number. This happened both with Hispanics and Latins who were afraid, and on the other side with the ritzy people who would say that they just didn't trust the government. They'd ask, ''Why do they want all this information?'' And I would tell them it's something we've been doing since the beginning of the country and it's for the better of the community.
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My worst experience was at a house where there were signs all over the place, Stay Away. Beware of Dog. So I walk in the gate and knock on the door. And the dog was watching me through the window. I keep knocking because I can hear people inside...and then this lady comes to the door, she doesn't open it, and she just rolls me one.
“You leave or I’m gonna get my gun,” she shouts through the closed door. "Get out of here."
I didn't run, but I did walk away. I was so pissed. I walked about 10 yards and called my supervisor and told her to mark the address as dangerous--this lady is crazy.
And it really ruined the rest of my day. I only did like two more, and that's it.
--Margarita Acosta
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