One day in shopping

-"Buggy through...please!" Mumbled to me the cashier lady in Zeller's today when I was checking out.

-"Sorry?" I replied, zooming at her lips to read and guess what she means.

-"Buggy through", she repeated the same unclear way calmly.

"What is buggy?" "What is she trying to convey"? "she doesnt' sound to be offering a especial point card" "No, replying by a mere "NO" is ridiculous in this situation”, “…” those were all thoughts flashed in my head.

-"Um...Yes...These are mine", I responded hesitantly while pointing to the goods I had put on the conveyer to check out, waiting to see her reaction carefully.

-“Ok…buggy through please”, stressed the senior again, this time a bit slowly, so I made almost sure the first word she says exactly spells like “Buggy”. Thanks god, this time I followed her hand gestures which she gave me. She appeared to mean I needed to push my empty shopping cart through so the young lady waiting at the end of the line can upload it back with the articles after check-out.

It was a bit embarrassing. It always is when you just can not grasp some very routine and simple terminology said by native people. What makes it even more uneasy is if you continue with a quiet, serious face, pretending nothing has happened and you of course knew the meaning but just happened not to get the spell correct.

While the ladies were busy dealing with my checking out procedure, I decided to turn this into my advantage. So, what is really buggy after all? I should know.

-“So…buggy is the word you use for that carriage, I suppose?” I shouted out, so that the three ladies including the mid-aged customer who was witnessing all my embarrassment at my back could hear it.

-“Yes. Some people call it Cart. That is the same thing” responded the mid-aged lady smilingly, as if she was anticipating my question.

-“Ahhh..cool, I never noticed this. I always used cart or carriage. Now I know…”

I was feeling consent afterward. I reminded to myself the old wisdom: “Not knowing is not of any shame. It is a shame if you don’t ask for what you don’t know.”