“So you have no chicken right…so uh…egg, tomatoes…no cheese,” I started saying.

“No cheese?? We require that all crepes have cheese!” he bellowed out to me.

I was slightly frightened and scanned the list again for a combination with no cheese. So I changed my approach, “What do you recommend with no cheese?”

“You must have cheese!” he said.

I let silence fill the void, blinking in uncertainty—but I don’t like cheese maybe I’ll just follow his recommendation. Then he interrupted my thought process, “Oh you don’t need to have cheese. I was just joking.”

“Oh…ok. Then onions, tomatoes, eggs. No mushrooms. No hot sauce.” I stiffened for a moment hoping he wouldn’t rebuke me.

He started making the eggs. I wanted to say Please don’t make them too scrambled, but was afraid of another joke at my expense.

He apologized as he handed me a completed crepe, “Here you go Mademoiselle. Sorry to have given you a hard time.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help but be picky.”