You Don’t Have To Stick To English

I work in a museum that gets a decent number of international tourists. A few of my coworkers and I know enough of various foreign languages to get visitors through the entry to the museum, but even if we don’t, we’ve gotten pretty good at rephrasing ourselves to be better understood by people who only know a little English.

Today, I’m checking in a Russian family.

Me: “And if you would like, we have a free scavenger hunt for the kids!”

Russian Visitor: “Scavenger hunt…?”

I pick up the pamphlet and open it, pointing to the pictures.

Me: “It’s a game. They look for the things in these pictures and mark it down if they find them.”

Russian Visitor: “Oh, I see! Yes, we will take two.”

Me: “And if they find everything, they get a sticker for a prize!”

Russian Visitor: “What is ‘sticker’?”

Me: “It—”

I realize I’m about to say, “It sticks to things,” and stop myself just in time, but my brain breaks and I can’t come up with an explanation that doesn’t use the word “sticky.” I mime slapping my hands together, as if putting a sticker down on a piece of paper, and helplessly turn to the coworkers standing near me.

Me: “How do you explain a sticker?”

They laugh at me. The scavenger hunt prizes are kept in a different room, but one of my coworkers quickly searches some drawers and finds a random sticker someone’s left there. She shows it to the guest, who laughs.

Russian Guest: “Oh, I see!” *Gestures at her daughters* “Yes, they love stickers!”

They took their scavenger hunts and went on their way. A few hours later, I saw the family leave, both girls proudly attaching their stickers to their coats. I’m glad my failure didn’t keep them from getting their prizes!