She did warn you...

Was waiting on this couple, who are clearly on a first date. The man seems initially delighted with her. I take their order and she orders the Fettuccine Alfredo. Cool no problem.

I bring their orders out and as is custom at our restaurant I ask the lady if she would like some fresh grated Parmesan on her pasta. She goes "oh yeah. I looooove cheese. Your arm is going to get tired I'm warning you!" Her date smiles at her, clearly thinking she's adorable.

Now I've heard this and dealt with this before. I have grated a lot of cheese in my serving career. It's never been a problem and I almost never judge someones cheese preference, being a dairy lover myself.

I will never forget this lady. I have never grated that much cheese before or since. It starts off normal and her date is still smiling at her. The pile begins to grow and he chuckles, clearly thinking this is some cute quirk.

But she doesn't tell me to stop. You can no longer see any pasta on this dish and our dinner pasta portions are very very large. I can see on his face that his initial delight with her is slowly morphing into surprise. The smile is growing smaller and tighter and the eyebrows are going higher.

And still she doesn't tell me to stop. She's clearly thrilled and obviously wants MORE cheese grated on this thing. For the first time my arms and wrists start to hurt. Now there is no where left for the cheese to go but UP. A small humped mountain of parmesan is growing on this womans plate. FINALLY after what seems an eternity she says "OK! That looks great!"

I am not exaggerating when I say she was having some pasta with her cheese. I had to get a fresh block because it was worn to the nub. My wrists hurt like hell. A first for cheese grating in 8 years. This dish looks absolutely gross. I look over at the guy's face and it has now morphed again from surprise to pure disgust and embarrassment.

She is completely oblivious and digs into her cheese stack still chirping and chattering at him and he won't even make eye contact anymore. The smile is gone. He is clearly over it. It's very obvious there is not going to be a second date.

I skip asking if they want desert and bring him the bill as quickly as I can without appearing to rush them. He gives me a look that all but screams "Thank You!" and makes his excuses to go, leaving me a VERY nice tip for expediting this painful experience as much as was professionally possible.

Haven't seen either of them back since.

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