It's Not the End of the World

The other day I was at the gas station and I overheard the attendant- who was ignoring me- say the expression (to the person he was talking to on the phone) we’ve all heard a thousand times- “It’s not the end of the world.” You’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. It’s thrown around so loosely it’s almost comical. At a restaurant when you order something they're out of and the waitress breaks the news to you, your expression might be “It’s not the end of the world.” Or when you get lost while driving and you’re running a little late, “it’s not the end of the world.” You get the idea.

Isn’t this just a stupid expression? Why do we say it? Is there ever a time where’d you’d say it is the end of the world?
In the emergency room when a loved one has just died…is that the appropriate time? I’m sorry Mrs. Lieberman, we’ve lost him, it’s the end of the world. Or would you say it’s not the end of the world to comfort Mrs. Lieberman?


We usually save the expression for things that are trivial or not a big deal or something we shouldn’t get worked up over, but still it doesn’t help.

I mean, what if it was the end of the world? What would people be saying? Would we be hearing people scream “it’s the end of the world!...it’s the end of the world!” Or would people be running around to calm other people down…”it’s NOT the end of the world, relax, it’s not the end of the world.”

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but it’s a peculiar expression. It doesn’t help either. It offers no comfort when it’s stated and quite frankly it makes no sense. So, the next time someone tells you “it’s not the end of the world” you should tell them: Thanks genius, you’re right, it’s probably not the end of the world. So, good call on that, but it’s very annoying that this restaurant is out of the biscuits and gravy special! Or whatever else it is that required the expression it’s not the end of the world.