Jawohl! Herr Kommandant!

Today we commuted by train to get to our daily German class. Shortly after boarding our return train, two uniformed gun-toting men entered our car. We have routinely had our tickets checked on other train trips we have done. These guys looked a little more stern and business-like than the conductors I have seen so far, but I dutifully pulled out my ticket as they approached. It is just a little bit scary to have two guys with handguns standing over you and speaking in German. I had flashbacks to my childhood, watching Hogan's Heroes on TV. Fortunately, when they spoke to us I didn't blurt out "Jawohl! Herr Kommandant," "I know nothing," or some other nonsense. They were all business and were far from the bumbling Sergeant Schultz and the monocle-wearing Colonel Klink. They were border police and were checking for passports and residence permits from foreigners, of which about 20% of the Swiss population is composed. It didn't take them long to figure out we were foreigners. Fortunately, S had just received her residence permit yesterday and had it with her. I don't have a permit and didn't have my passport with me, but I did have my 1/2 price train card and my US driver's license. I don't think they were very impressed. One of the guys took our documents and went to make a call out of earshot from us (not that we would have understood what he was saying), while the other stayed with us. Although I knew I hadn't done anything wrong, I was still thinking about worst-case scenarios. There is so much paperwork and bureaucracy here, and not much love for foreign residents, that I could see them coming back and saying, "I'm sorry, you are going to have to come with us," "I'm sorry you are not legally allowed to be in the country," or "I'm sorry, you have not properly filed your (fill in the blank) form." After a few minutes of trying to look relaxed, yet running through these scenarios in my head, the officer returned. The two spoke briefly and the one that had stayed with us said "Thank you for your cooperation" and handed us back our documents.
Just last night, when she received her residence permit, I had asked S if she thought we needed to carry our passports all the time or if the residence permit would supercede the passport. They were much more interested in the residence permit, so I guess I got my answer. Ironically, I think today was the first day that I haven't had my passport on the train. I suspect our INS has some room for improvement too, but to my knowledge they aren't at large in the country randomly stopping people and asking for paperwork. Ironically, also, this morning while riding the train to class, I noticed some graffiti on the door of the train that said "Fuck the Police." I thought it seemed odd and out of place in such a peaceful and neutral country and dismissed it as the scribblings of disillusioned youth. One of the books we have on Swiss culture talks about how there is very little crime that occurs in Switzerland and most of it blamed on foreigners. Must have been a disgruntled foreigner who wrote the graffitti...