Really stupid question... How does buying helium balloons work?

[mummabubs]

Have to confess I've made it to my mid thirties and never in my life purchased a helium balloon. My DS's birthday is coming up and he's asked for a balloon (he's only 3 so I'm treasuring the birthdays where the thing he wants most is some inflated rubber as opposed to an ipad! )

I've seen helium balloons for sale in the larger supermarkets, so I guess my question is does the supermarket also inflate them for you there after you've purchased it? Sorry for the boring and silly query but I don't feel confident about buying one and then looking like a complete dinlo who doesn't know what to do with it! Thanks all x

Every time you buy a helium balloon an MRI scanner somewhere does

At Hobbycraft they fill them up at the paying counter. I presume they do it at Customer Services in the supermarket.

The shops that sell them have a canister of Helium gas and will inflate them for you the day you buy them.

However, please reconsider - your lovely 3 year old will get just as much joy from non-Helium ordinary balloons.

National Geographic article
Independent article
google for "why are we running out of Helium" for more.

If you want your 3 year old to grow up in a world where, as an adult, he can still get an MRI scan if he needs one, then maybe don't get him a Helium balloon?

I love those candle-lanterns we used to sky-release too, before I realised how damaging they are. Sometimes we can't have the lovely things.

"looking like a complete dinlo"

Not a word I see on MN very often!

Are you on the south coast OP?

Thanks all, I will definitely look into non-helium balloons as I hadn't realised they aren't environmentally friendly (I loathe lanterns for the same reason so thank you for educating me).

@anuffername I live in Wales now but I have revealed myself as a pompey lass by origin 😂 Until I moved away I had no idea dinlo was a south coast-ism... Or squinny for that matter.

I am also a loooong way from Pompey now, but it just made me happy to see the word actually written down