Was this lady really Heartless?

Last night, I got locked out of my apartment. My door has an old yale type lock, and it has a safety latch built into the lock mechanism, for keeping the lock 'open'. Anyway, it seems when I left the house yesterday morning, somehow this old safety latch thing got stuck, thereby preventing me from being able to open my door again. I could turn the key to double lock / unlock the door, but not actually turn it far enough to open the door.

I found this out at just gone 1am, on a night that had suddenly turned cold and wet. I took a cab back to the student dorms, thinking i'd kip with my friends in their dorm. However, the dorm staff wouldn't let me go up, as their rules don't allow overnight guests.

They have spare rooms to let there, but they need to be booked in advance. They wouldn't let me rent a room.

They also have chairs and tables on the ground floor, in full view of the staff. They wouldn't let me sit down and rest there either.

They required me to go back out into the rain and find somewhere else to stay. They were pretty horrible about it actually. Severely mean. I was soaked through and visibly shivering, at like 2am in the morning. My friends came down with a blanket, a towel and some hot tea, which was good. They took a great photo of my looking miserable.

I couldn't believe how totally heartless the staff there were. Allowing me to even sit in the relative dry warmth of the lobby wasn't exactly going to cause any sort of security risk or cause them any hassle, but they were absolutely resolute in kicking me out into the rain.

Given the particular situation, i.e. one where casting me outside was really very likely to result in me catching a very bad cold, and given I had explained I really couldn't get into my own apartment, and that my friends were willing to sign me in and vouch for my presence, it was difficult to understand just how any human being could manage to show absolutely no compassion at all.

I wish my mandarin was more capable - I wanted to explain upon leaving that being so unhelpful given the circumstances realy didn't give foreigners studying at Fudan University a good impression of China or of Fudan University.

My friends tell me I should complain, but I'm not sure what the most effective way is yet. For now, I am putting it down to learning. Not that the staff at the foreign dorms should be representative of China or of Fudan University, but it is true to say that they have provided me with an insight.

My friend Kellog suggests that perhaps the most unobliging lady has had a very difficult life herself, and so isn't readily kind to others. Or perhaps that she believes religiously following the rules no matter what is the most important thing. Either way, very interesting extremes. I wonder how many more examples like this I will come across.

I don't want to give Fudan University a bad impression. The staff at the foreign dorms follow rules in order to protect the privacy of the students living there - a good thing. In coming to China, I knew I would run into problems from time to time - cultural shock etc. It's not to say that it happens any more or less in Fudan - I only have my own experience to report.

At the end of the day though, Fudan is one of THE most reputable universities in China. So I think if anything it should be less problematic than others.