Do You Want Cheese on That?

So, what’s the deal with pushing cheese, cheese, cheese, anywhere you go?

Remember when the server at McDonalds always asked “Do you want fries with that?” Well, every time I order a sandwich, the order clerk asks “Do you want cheese on that?”

“No thanks,” I say.

But I can’t simply just say “no” once. At Subway, if I say no thanks to the first order person, the next two workers in the sandwich production line ask again! (Do they get a bonus per slice?)

They’re like drug pushers: “Pssst, hey, want to do some good Gorgonzola?” “You really need some Cheddar on that.” Or Scientologists: “You really do want to have this cheese on that sandwich.”

Oy vey! Has no one heard of kosher? You know, not serving meat and dairy at the same meal? I can’t be the only person out that who eats cheese-less sandwiches?

Not that I keep kosher -- actually, I’m not even Jewish – but my New York roots have given me the occasional craving for a tasty sandwich from a great Jewish deli! Where they never ask me if I want cheese on that!!!

My cynical self suspects that the Cheese Institute, not unlike organized crime, has made a “deal they can’t refuse” with all the sandwich and fast food chains. “Sell cheese, if you know what’s good for you!” Why else would I get asked “do you want cheese on that” about 2.7 times per each sandwich order!

What do you think? Do you long for a good Jewish deli where they never ask you “Do you want cheese on that?”