New Zealand conducts a nationwide census every five years. Laird McGillicuddy always tries to avoid being counted.
The self-admitted "eccentric" McGillicuddy spent census day of 1996 hovering over Garden Place in a hot air balloon. He claimed that he was outside of New Zealand's legal air space. The government agreed, and he was not counted.
In 1991 he filled in his form in Latin and nailed it, Martin Luther-style, to a tree in Garden Place. A census official retrieved it, and Laird McGillicuddy was counted as a resident of New Zealand.
In 1986 Laird claimed he was possessed by the spirit of an ancient ape creature and was no longer legally a person. This was unsuccessful, with a judge ruling he had to fill out the form because he had deliberately made himself a non-person.
In 2001, he actually was outside of New Zealand. He was in Australia helping to take care of a sick friend.
This year, Laird McGillicuddy claims that he will be cryogenically frozen in Garden Place in a cool bid to render himself "legally dead" for the duration of the official head count. "Hamilton will freeze over before I fill out their cheeky damned forms," he said. There is no explanation if he is serious and if he also plans to be thawed out the following day.
I think some of my ancestors practiced similar schemes for avoiding census takers!
