Sitting behind a glass door the female homo sovieticus observes her surrounding and when encountering a homo sapiens sapiens you hear her think: "NO!!! Not another costumer... Seriously, why can't they just leave me alone while I'm at work?". On her desk a blank piece of paper, a telephone and a small lamp to entertain her. I ask her kindly to buzz me through, she looks up from her empty sheet of paper and points to a note stuck to the side of the door. I smile (never smile!) and explain through the glass that I don't understand whats written on the note. The text is facing her, not me. She picks up the telephone and calls someone, and repeats to whomever is on the other side something like 'I don't understand, I don't understand what he wants'.
After she hangs up she says: 'No'.
Again I put on my friendly face (never ever smile!) and explain why I took this exit, I got the same reply: 'No'. No explanation in Latvian, Russian, Mandarin, English or German. No additional explanation on where I have to go, just: 'No'.
Luckily the Homo Sovieticus are nearly extinct here in Latvia. There are probably still a few specimen in the wild but employers tend to hide them in the back office; giving them a terribly boring standardized job. I imagined their job interview today. It must go something like this: "Responsibility and initiative are unwanted characteristics here? Yes, you don't have these? Excellent!".
So, when you encounter one; keep your cool , don't smile and walk away but keep eye contact. Don't break the eye contact, at any cost. The most important advise is though: leave. They're a lost cause.