I can't use my electronic ID card to enter OR exit the compound and building where I live. Why, I'm not sure: it worked just fine this morning, but when I came home from work a few minutes ago, my card failed to release the locks so I could enter the compound gates, and didn't work on my building, either. This is NOT GOOD, as I often take the wee doggies out for early morning strolls before anyone else is awake. There's not a lot of foot traffic into my building, either, so I could in theory be stuck outside for hours with two stinking dogs waiting for someone to kindly let me in.
It's also ominous as I am having a bit of a spat with my school and they finally wrested my legal address from me. God only knows who is related to what around here: this is exactly the sort of low-level harassment that happens when you piss off a Chinese person who isn't quuiiiiite sure just how many connections you really have. After my card failed at the gate, a "security guard" (aged about 12) "fixed" it on the computer scanning system they have. Yet, four minutes later, it failed to let me into my own building.
Part of me wonders if this is my own damn fault. About two weeks ago the security guards accosted me as I was leaving the compound and demanded I sign a registration form giving my name, country of residence (Here: duh) and to write in the largest space--seriously, it was about 25 characters longer than the space for the name--- "Assignation of Genitalia." Well, I could guess that they meant GENDER (as in male or female) but I felt like a smart-ass and wrote in the space, "I haven't the slightest idea what the hell this means" before trotting along my merry way. After all, I was legally registered with the police, so this was just a formality, right? Perhaps not. As I flounced away from the security guard this afternoon, he said something odd which I now realize was, "Goodbye, Miss What the Hell This Mean."
It's also ominous as I am having a bit of a spat with my school and they finally wrested my legal address from me. God only knows who is related to what around here: this is exactly the sort of low-level harassment that happens when you piss off a Chinese person who isn't quuiiiiite sure just how many connections you really have. After my card failed at the gate, a "security guard" (aged about 12) "fixed" it on the computer scanning system they have. Yet, four minutes later, it failed to let me into my own building.
Part of me wonders if this is my own damn fault. About two weeks ago the security guards accosted me as I was leaving the compound and demanded I sign a registration form giving my name, country of residence (Here: duh) and to write in the largest space--seriously, it was about 25 characters longer than the space for the name--- "Assignation of Genitalia." Well, I could guess that they meant GENDER (as in male or female) but I felt like a smart-ass and wrote in the space, "I haven't the slightest idea what the hell this means" before trotting along my merry way. After all, I was legally registered with the police, so this was just a formality, right? Perhaps not. As I flounced away from the security guard this afternoon, he said something odd which I now realize was, "Goodbye, Miss What the Hell This Mean."
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