Treat police officers, doctors, and bank tellers as rule‑following workers, not as archetypes: paperwork and deadlines — not emotions — drive results.

19. Treat police officers, doctors, and bank tellers as rule‑following workers, not as archetypes: paperwork and deadlines — not emotions — drive results.

Cost: No expense involved. You only need to adjust your expectations and the sequence of actions. The first step is to resist the urge to “convince the other party with logic.”

In plain terms: Children tend to think “police exist to catch bad guys; doctors exist to heal people.” Adults should instead view these professionals as employees bound by job rules, paperwork, deadlines, and oversight. How friendly they are has little bearing on whether your task gets done or how quickly. What matters is obtaining receipts, noting deadlines, and filing appeals through proper channels — not winning an intellectual debate.

Benefit: Switching to this approach means moving from “pleading, getting angry, and reiterating your grievances” to “handling paperwork, tracking deadlines, and appealing via official routes.” The time saved comes from eliminating endless back‑and‑forth discussions and mental re‑processing. This is a one‑time mindset shift rather than a daily time‑saving trick. The deadlines themselves serve as concrete checkpoints, all clearly stated in official documents. For public‑security cases, the investigation period may not exceed 30 days; for especially complex cases, an extension of another 30 days can be granted with higher‑level approval. If a complaint is dismissed, the notification must be delivered within three days; the complainant may request a review within seven days, after which police must issue a decision within 30 days. A further appeal to a higher authority can be filed within another seven days.

Evidence grade: C

Sources: Ministry of Public Security of China (2020). Provisions on the procedures for handling criminal cases by public security organs (Ministry of Public Security of China Order No. 159, as amended, Articles 171, 178, and 179). <http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2020/content_5549884.htm>; Ministry of Public Security of China (Amended in 2013/2019). Provisions on the procedures for handling administrative cases by public security organs (Ministry of Public Security of China Order No. 125, No. 149). <http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2013/content_2321117.htm>

Notes: Grade C is assigned because there is no scholarly source supporting the premise that “many people treat front-desk staff as archetypes rather than ordinary workers.” The only evidence lies in the rules themselves: deadlines, paperwork, and appeal mechanisms are all explicitly codified. All figures cited here originate from Chapter 8, Rule 39, which outlines procedures following a police report. This entry does not promise to “guarantee success” by following the rules, nor does it address “unfriendly attitudes” on the part of officials. It merely shifts expectations and the initial course of action. The same logic applies to bank tellers and government service windows: their actions are documented, subject to review, and accountable for errors. Therefore, the proper steps are to keep receipts, request written confirmations, and file complaints through official channels — rather than speculating about whether someone might “take advantage” of you. Legitimate priorities are laid out in law; for example, emergency care is allocated based on medical severity, not on first-come-first-served order (see Chapter 24, Rule 8 on triage). If you wish to thank a doctor who helped you, send a thank-you letter or leave a satisfaction rating as described in Chapter 24, Rule 11. Offering gifts to law-enforcement personnel to “get better service” constitutes bribery, a crime with severe statutory penalties (see Chapter 8, Rule 40). Any obvious discrimination should be reported and monitored, not imitated as an unwritten norm.