Ancestry

I went to a dinner party last night and met some new people.  Everyone in the group was interested in their ancestry.  We were all white, European descendants.  People wanted to know who was the first one in their family to come to America. What US port did they immigrate to and what port did they leave behind?  One person in the group is trying to get into the DAR - Daughters of American Revolution.  Sometimes a ship manifest will tell you who was on board and how much money each person had in their pocket - often just a few dollars.  Many people in the group use a website called ancestry.com.  The first few days on ancestry.com are free and after that dues come to about a dollar a day I believe.  You can avoid the fee by using the website at your public library.  This website will store your information and keep it there.  Evidently they encourage you to make your information available to other ancestry buffs.  People spend hours on this stuff.  They become addicted to checking information on ancestry.com.  I learned that the census can give you lots of information.  Questions on the census vary every time it is run; ten years apart.  In the past the questions have been how many in your household speak English or do you have indoor plumbing.  I learned a lot last night but I have to confess, I'm just not all that interested in looking back.  Seems to me the present and the future are more interesting.