me enter. He kept yelling, "Globes, globes!" I said, "The store doesn't look closed to me." Then he stood in front of me and repeated, "Not enter wit'out globes. I have, you must put on."

Finally I understood he was trying to say "gloves." Had he said "guantes," the Spanish equivalent, I would have immediately caught on. But the doorman was either Armenian or Russian and trying his best. Flimsy plastic things but he was satisfied.

Reminds me of the story my mother used to tell. As a young girl, possibly as a reward for graduating college, she was taken on a trip to the Black Sea by her wealthy grandmother. It was then the 1930's but they were able to enter Stalinist Russia. They arrived on a boat and the purser kept telling everyone as they would disembark, "Step your watch!" Mom wondered if people had to actually step on their wristwatches for some Commie reason until she figured it out. The gangplank was bumpy and rocking from waves.