Steve and I think that about seventy five to eighty per cent of this county has dirt roads. Some of them are graded fairly nicely. Many are that soft, soft “sugar” sand whereby one can easily get stuck.
The government loves acronyms, abbreviations and form numbers…can’t ever used real words. I prefer and understand real words. I really don’t feel like learning a whole new vocabulary for a few weeks worth of work.
Last year when I “collected” addresses for them, I found several areas that could have put me up to my hubcaps on my little car. One of our CLA’s (Crew Leader Assistant) had a heavy duty truck. He hauled more than one enumerator out. He never had to haul me out. The situation, as one can imagine can cause many a challenge. Normally, if I got into an area where the road looked as though it might gobble up my tires, I would leave the car near the main road, lock it, and walk to the various houses. Fortunately, my “blocks” within our Assigned Area (AA) were never huge so that walking was somewhat practical. Well, that’s not totally true. But the huge blocks (and there were many) were surrounded by paved roads.
It was our job to “map spot” (MS) all the “living quarters” (LQs). We were to knock on doors, give our speech about who we were and what we were doing if someone answered. If no one answered we used our hand held computers (HHC) and did a “map spot.” Well, even if someone answered the door, we still did the “map spot," but, of course with the speech.
One day last year, we had heavy rains. I was out and about in one of the areas with little population. I came across three mobile homes (or as some of you northerners might say “trailers”). I was concerned about getting stuck. So, I walked into the area with the trailers, knocked on each door. No one answered. Okay, map spot, map spot, map spot. I was doing fine. Many places that have dogs have posted signs. Never saw a sign or a spotting of a dog. Finished my map spotting. Started to walk back to my vehicle.
And, Lo! And Behold! An eight ton Rottweiler appeared from out of no where. Woof! Woof! Woof! I started easing toward my car which was several hundred yards away (It looked about a mile and a half). Nice doggie, step, aren’t you pretty, step, nice doggie, another step. Then he got between me and the car. Now what? Stand still. Woof, woof, woof.
After a time period that seemed like three hours (but was probably less than ten minutes), a lady opened the door at one of the trailers, “I am sick and just got out of bed, WHAT DO YOU WANT!”
Ma’am, I want to get back to my car. Said in a whinney or terrified voice
Again, “WHAT DO YOU WANT!”
I explained who I was, showed her my badge, and again pled with her that all I really wanted was to get back to my car.
“What’s stopping you!”
“Well, the dog…..”
“Aw, he won’t hurt anything…” She called off the dog. I walked slowly back to the safety of the automobile with a huge sigh of relief.
I am not normally afraid of dogs, but I do wear a certain amount of caution. The rest of my tour of duty went fairly well. I was much more cautious when I got out of the car.
But, like so many of us…we forget out past history. This is a new year. I did not learn my lesson well. I had one map spot that had not responded to the census form that was sent to them. A good ol’ Florida redneck! A bit off the main paved road, the dirt road turned to sugar sand. I don’t have a CLA that has a hauling truck this time. Did not want to get stuck. Started the hike carrying my Enumerator Questionnaire (EQ). Everything seemed fine. I got about a hundred feet from the edge of the driveway and three dogs appeared from no where. Two of the dogs did their cursory barks and went back well into the yard. There was no fence to keep these critters contained.
The pit bull mix, however, was not going to let me move…forward or backward. I was not scared, but a bit nervous. I had a hat on my head. Pulled it down so that he could not see my eyes, but I could see his movements. Eye contact is an aggressive sign to dogs, particularly aggressive ones. I carry a soft brief case and a good sized log book, both of which I slowly moved in front of me. That dog was not going to give up. I finally heard a voice from the area of the house trying to call the dog off. He was not about to listen. The person did not appear to see the cause of the barking. Probably knew it was a person who would go away eventually.
I stood statue still until the dog finally got bored with me and trotted back into his yard. I backed down the road about one hundred yards to make sure he was not going to reappear. Finally, I was able to turn and mosey slowly back to the car. Big sigh of relief!
My CLA wanted me to complete a form #2839387498347892371083 or something like that. A what!?!? This meant that I had to write up a form about this particular place was “a dangerous enumeration.” What no abbreviation for that! I guess the form number was better in this instance.
This guy and his family will NOT be counted.
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