I was out at breakfast recently when I heard another patron saying “let me get [this order]”. It reminded me of something my parents have been complaining about lately — that people say “no problem” instead of “you’re welcome”.

I’m sure I’m guilty of saying “let me get” at some point, but in general I say “I would like” or “I’ll have”.

I don’t know what it is about “let me get”, but that seems a little brusque to me. Maybe it’s because of the generation I’m from; maybe it’s because I’m used to speaking a certain way based on how I was raised.

I’m sure it’s just a shift in linguistic usage over the years, much like the proliferation of (ugh) “Welcome in!”, which drives me absolutely up the wall. I mean, what’s wrong with “welcome”? Did we have to bring prepositions into this?

I put a lot of stock into politeness. When I message someone online, I’m polite. When I write work emails, I’m polite. Hell, when I talk to my partners I’m polite, and we’ve built relationships where I could probably get away with being impolite from time to time. I guess what is polite and what is not has changed as well.

Or maybe I’m just finding a new way to tell people to get off my lawn.