This is exactly the same in France. The system is fine when you are in the mold as you are saying. It is at least much better than in the recent past. Another

This is exactly the same in France. The system is fine when you are in the mold as you are saying. It is at least much better than in the recent past. Another aspect of French bureaucracy is that it becomes fuzzy when you are dealing at a more local level. Say you want to get a library card for which you have to show proof that you live in the city. I did not have mine handy, and after a lengthy exchange of gazes and after everyone has done "pfffff", "hmmmmm", they got a form from a drawer on wich you could state on your honor that you live there. Lots of foreigners are rebutted after an initial no, when it is sometimes just an invitation to a longer exchnage.