I've been using the phrase "No worries" a lot lately. I'm not sure if a lot of people are apologizing tome or if they are bailing on plans or what. I certainly haven't felt slighted lately (if anything, the reverse) but a quarter of my out going texts on my cel are "No worries."
I started to use the phrase back in the mid-90's when I was a shift supervisor (or leader or whatever we called ourselves) at a coffeehouse. One of the employees was a young Australian man whose name now escapes me. He said "No worries" all the time. And some how it lodged into my brain and resurfaces every couple of years.
It's a great phrase which captures my feelings a lot of the times. "There is no reason to stress out about this small thing. In the scheme of things it is nothing" or "Hey, what happened happen. We can handle it" or "I have your back" or a nice way to say "Chill the fuck out." It's all about keeping things in perspective.
I loved working with the Australian because he rarely let the trivialities of slinging coffee get him down. It was a low paying job of little grand significance. He instantly shook of annoying or angry customers. When things went wrong they didn't phase him. And his attitude as infectious.
Don't get me wrong. He was a horrible employee. Maybe not horrible, but not very good. The flip side of "no worries" is "I don't care enough to put in anything but the bare minimum of effort." And I am pretty sure he was stoned at work more than a few times.
But still, he was a joy to work with.
