Not a Problem

I've started this blog as a place to post my writing, including a few published pieces and a lot more of stuff that I don't know what to do with otherwise. This can include essays that are not very marketable, screwy little poems, and, like the millions of other blogs out there, general musings and rants.

Let me start with my standard rant about "not a problem." This has now all but replaced "you're welcome" when the conversation in question includes a waiter. They bring you a bottle of ketchup, you say "thank you," and they say "no problem," or "not a problem."

I realize they don't mean anything bad by this, and in fact are trying to be polite, but why would it be a problem? Isn't this just a subtle way of saying, "Hey, it could have been a problem, but I went out of my way for you. So I agree you should be thanking me."