Everybody is entitled to MY opinion ;)

I had to get a new "Temporary Residence Permit" today since I neglected to stop by earlier. I used to go into station all the time everytime I stayed outside of SH until finally the police there just told me not to keep coming unless I needed a new one. OK, cool, i thought and so I thought nothing of it for the past year. Well this time around,it turns out I may get checked for it, so i went in to get a new one. When I went in, the officer looked at my info and said that i was supposed to have come in in January when I first arrived. I told her I had not been in SH the whole time and now that I am, I am here get a new permit. I also clearly told her that the reason I did not come in was b/c one of her fellow officers told me not to unless I really needed it for something.

Ok, she smiled and asked me to fill in the form. As I was sitting there, a local lady came in and brought with her an EU passport and said she needed to get a "Temporary Residence Permit". The officer looked at it and said that the passport holder had been in the country for 6 mos and that there would have to be a fine.

Outraged, the lady went on and on about how foreigners cant read the signs and did not know about the 24 hour requirement (up to 72 is usually allowed actually) and that he had no time and just could not be bothered, blah blah blah. She did it in typical Shanghainese argumenitive style, full on agressive stance against the lady police officer who calmly said to her that ignorance and being busy was not an excuse.

The lady was even more furious and kept ranting about other stuff talking about how some foreigners can be stupid and such, obviously implying THIS passportholder was pretty dense, and some other comments which I could not understand. At this point the officer looked at her and asked, "Exactly what relationship do you have with the passport holder?" The lady indignantly said,"Spousal relations".

At this point the officer smiled and said something to the tune of," Let me get this straight, you are his wife and you obviously knew the rules, and yet you let him wait this long. If he is so stupid, why didnt you come in for him earlier? You married him."

The Lady was furious and embarassed at this point, grabbed her stuff and the passport and walked out the door.

I looked up from my paperwork and saw the officer and her collegue smiling and then heard them start discussing the situation on how ridiculous this lady was being coming into the police station with that kind of low class attitude and how this particular foreigner MUST be stupid to have married such an idiot wife.

I quickly finished my paperwork, and smiled att them while they processed my paperwork. They quickly took care of the confirmation check via the computer, stamped my paperwork and I left. No fine for me. :)