CAPSULE COMMENTARY: “Census 2000 Propoganda”

“Last weekend, I rode in a organized bicycle ride on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in which more than 1,000 cyclists participated. Guess which government agency provided free promotional gifts to all the cyclists at the end of the ride. If you guessed “The U.S. Postal Service” because it sponsors the American Tour de France cycling team, you guessed wrong. Each cyclist was treated to a free water bottle which had inscribed on it in big red letters, “United States Census 2000.” Now, perhaps you’re asking yourself the same question I asked myself: Why in the world is the U.S. government spending money on water bottles to advertise and promote the Census? One piece of bad news though if you’re a cyclist and considering writing in and asking for one of the free bottles: The bottles are terribly oversized and thus won’t fit in the standard bicycle water-bottle holder. Whoops, close enough for government work but not for cycling!”