This is a subject that obviously makes some people extremely uncomfortable, which they express in various ways from trying to be funny to suspiscion. What't the worst thing that can happen to you if you just answer the guy's question?!

My first reaction word-association-wise for me was 'help'.
We used to live in more extended families and closer communities. There was a wise relative or community member who people talked to. Now, they pay someone who has paid a lot to be trained how to do it. Everybody needs a hand sometimes, and we don't all have a disinterested but trusted person around us to talk to.