Oh no! The long form!

Lucky me. I received my Census Bureau form in the mail last week and it was the longggg one.

Of course the form also came with directions written in several languages, including a couple oriental languages that I couldn't even guess what they were.

The crux of the directions ... simplified ... were "fill out this form and mail it back or face legal recourse."

The irritating part was we received the long form 10 years ago. Does that mean we're on some computer listing somewhere that dictates we will be receiving the long form for the remainder of our lives? Yuck!

Being the usually low-abiding citizens we try to be, my wife sat down at the dining room table and immediately started completing the list of questions, many of which personally I don't believe is anyone's business, including the federal government. Of course the multi-language directions tell us the information will not be shared, but why should I believe the federal government? It's never lied before, has it?

Anyway. About 45 minutes later, we finished the form and put it in the mail the next day. I wonder how many people actually tell the truth on the form or intentionally alter reality for their own purposes when filling out the form? My guess is there's a lot of lying going on when certain personal sections of the form are being completed.

And, if there's a lot of lying going on, how accurate are the results of the Census Bureau survey?