Miss intrusive types in lonely times

In Hong Kong, if a casual acquaintance was bold enough to ask me how much money I was making, I would most certainly have thought that he or she had crossed to the other side of the thin red line of sanity. But such inquisitiveness is quite common on the mainland.

It's not so much in Beijing. Maybe it's because I don't go out very often. I did venture out a lot more when I was in Shanghai. I remember that at cocktail parties or other corporate functions, many people I met and talked to gave me the impression they were moonlighting for the census department.

I was sure they weren't being rude or had any ill intentions. But their curiosity could be most off putting.