What?

At about 8pm on Christmas Eve, in Oceanside (on the way back from Legoland) we decided that the best thing to do for food would be to find a supermarket and buy something like sushi, or failing that, some microwave meal. We couldn't stand the thought of more delivered food at our hotel, and we had a room with a 'kitchenette'. Trader Joe's was shut (they have some bizarre idea that their staff might prefer to do something other than sell me ready meals on the evening of December 31st), so I went to Vons. Vons was closing at 11pm that day (but was back to 1am on the 1st of January, so the sign on the door told me).

I shopped, which was a moderately stressful experience, Susanne and the boys were waiting in the car, the sushi was all sold out, I couldn't find my way around this large, strange supermarket, and I'd just had two days at Legoland. When I'd finished, the woman on the register (who, incidentally, didn't seem to feel that working on a supermarket checkout was her calling, and particularly didn't seem to feel this on the last day of the year) said: "Helpow?"

"Huh?" I replied.

"Hell-Pow?"

I looked blank. She looked as if she was losing patience. "Help. Out?" she repeated, slowly and clearly.

Now I understood the words, but had no idea what she meant. Sometimes in Gap, they ask you if anyone helped you out in the store, but that didn't seem likely. Was she asking if I wanted to help out with something? If I wanted her to help out with something? If I wanted someone else to help out something? Or help me out? But help me out doing what? I didn't know what to say.

"Errrmmm.. No" I said, looking for any kind of reaction that this was really wrong and stupid, and I should change my answer to "Yes". But there was no reaction at all, and so I left the shop, relieved.