He was stymied because although the displays were tempting, the descriptive labels were in Russian and the woman behind the counter spoke only rudimentary English.
As she enacts that humiliating visit, the clerk at the counter speaks with a stentorian voice that lets everyone in the store know what she's buying, and the bag she receives to carry it home in lets the rest of the world know just where she's been.
A former vote counter spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, because of a confidentiality clause all counters have to sign.
"Today is day 241," Ezekwesili counters, speaking slowly in an attempt to contain her obvious anger, "and the girls are still not back.
A short plump man missing half his teeth approached the counter to speak with Mr. Allai, the Santería priest.
You know they are going to only have one person working despite the excessive unmanned counters that speak to a time when this place of business actually gave a shit.
One was: an older fellow he used to see at a lunch counter who spoke about two girls in the restaurant, indicating they were free with their favors.
He takes a small notebook from his pocket to go over his purchase needs for the week, and as records pile up on the counter he speaks quietly about his passion for the shop.
On a recent visit to Bonnie Slotnick's famed used-and-rare-cookbook shop, in lower Manhattan, I leaned on the glass counter and spoke to Slotnick and her friend Don Lindgren, who owns a cookbook store in Maine, about the distinctiveness of Slater.
Zubeda Limbada from Connect Justice, a group which offers independent expertise in counter terrorism, spoke to the BBC about the problems in dealing with radicalisation.
