If you wanted to have a golden tooth, you also had to get an approval: from the party, from the manager of your factory (the manager would write a recommendation mentioning the reason why you needed gold-accident, disease- and that happened at the doctor?s recommendation). You showed all these paper to the bank and then bought the gold. (O. S., 41)

GRAY

When I remember the 80?s, I do not see color photos. As for the period before, what comes to my mind is a colorful Bucharest, when I was a child, at Antim, I can see colored images. But after the 80?s everything was gray. Pretty much like what happened to The Folklore Institute. In the 80?s, because we were afraid that we might be moved, the manager painted the entrance gates in gray, and he also arranged for some gray jail gates to be fixed. It could be called the gray phenomenon; it was a subterfuge to pass unnoticed and to feel protected. (I. P., 37)  

GREENGROCER?S

People made a fortune with the greengrocer?s, made big money, because that was where you could really earn easy money. There were lots of jokes about the greengrocer?s. The ordinary man who had no connections would stand in a queue and buy whatever was left, all the rubbish and fruits and vegetable that had half gone bad. Fruit and vegetables were quite cheap, anybody could afford them. (114)

GRIN (AND BEAR)

Absurdity and grimness were often molded into humorous shapes. It was often the case with office relationships. Here is an example.

1984. Hot summer morning, 9.30 a.m. Socialist designing institute; coffee time over, everyone gets to ?production? work. A delegate from the province comes in; delegates often came to us to discuss some prefab problem. While he?s talking, the workshop door opens and a young woman with splendid legs and an outrageously short skirt comes in; she has a bandage round her right foot. The man can?t take his eyes off the lady?s legs? He?s clearly lost all coherence. I realize he?s not able any more to talk of concrete prefabs, so I tell him, Yeah, this is our colleague, you know, she?s had a shipping accident. He keeps silent, a bit taken aback, and starts again his prefab story.