Movie Pet Peeve: Romantic Dinner For Two, Alone

​If you’ve watched your share of movies you probably already know the scene I’m talking about. What was supposed to be a romantic evening ends up being completely ruined when one of the two key participants fails to show up. Instead of sharing each other’s company by candlelight, the person who spent most of the day toiling in the kitchen (and lovingly plating TWO dishes) is left sitting alone at the dinner table wondering where their spouse or significant other could possibly be.

It’s not hard to imagine there are plenty of scenarios where a person might plan on making an ornate dinner only to have it spoiled at the last minute, however, in movie land, the circumstances always seem highly suspect. It’s not so much the fact that plans go awry, but rather how they’re handled that makes me throw my hands up in the air in an exasperated “do people actually do this?” type fashion.

Let’s look at a few things that usually happen within this overused movie cliché:

1) There’s Absolutely No Communication

Never mind that either party could easily call the other one at pretty much any point, the person cooking would rather just trust that everything will go according to plan and their loved one will come waltzing in right as the roast has finished resting and the yams are being pulled from the oven.

2) The Person Plates Everything

Even though they’ve just prepared a fairly involved dinner menu and there’s still no sign of their other half, the cook presses on and decides to put food on two plates. Sure the food might get cold, but so what? Isn’t that what the person deserves for being late to such a glorious meal?

3) The Cook Waits an Obscene Amount of Time

It’s not enough to just put everything on the plate and then call to say dinner is ready, or ask, “Are you going to be home soon?” No. You need to sit at the table by yourself silently fuming for several hours until the door finally opens and the asshole dinner ruiner realizes what just happened.

4) Things Get Ugly

Whether it’s restrained rage, extreme disappointment or violent anger, one thing’s for sure, the person who made dinner is not going to react favorably. Even though they could have just as easily avoided this whole messy misunderstanding, chances are the once-loving couple has an ugly fight on the horizon.

What’s the point of all this? Not much, other than for some reason these movie conflicts tend to irk me just as much as the beautiful-looking egg and bacon breakfasts that constantly go uneaten. However, when I complained a month ago about the incredible discrepancy between people getting drinks thrown in their faces in movies compared to real life, I was stunned to find out just how many people have been affected by aquatically expressed outrage. So, my question to readers is this:

Have you ever actually prepared a nice dinner, plated everything, and waited patiently at the table while a loved one stood you up?

If this actually happens, I’d love to hear about it. In fact, it might just make the next lazily written relationship comedy a little more palatable if I know it’s more grounded in reality than I ever would have thought.