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‘Too Cheesy’ Grilled Cheese Sandwich Allegedly Prompts Domestic Disturbance

By Robert Jonathan
Published on: 11:56 PST, Aug 4, 2016

A Georgia man landed in jail after an alleged domestic dispute over the preparation of a grilled cheese sandwich.

The reportedly hot-tempered husband allegedly had a meltdown in the kitchen last Wednesday when his wife made him a grilled cheese sandwich with three slices of cheese instead of two.

“James De Paola, 55, was screaming at his wife in such a fashion that spit was hitting her face, according to Athens-Clarke County police,” WSB-TV in Atlanta reported.

Amidst the dispute over too much cheese, one of their daughters, a 9-year-old, tried to call 911 on the landline, but De Paola allegedly yanked the cord out of the wall. The other daughter, a 12-year-old, contacted the emergency line with her mother’s cell phone, however, and police responded to the scene.

Cops arrested the man for obstruction of a 911 call and trespass/damage to property.

“The 6? 2?, 180-pound De Paola spent several days in the county jail before his release…on $2000 bond,” The Smoking Gun detailed.

The police report indicates that wife Michele De Paola told officers that “James has a history of violent and abusive behavior that has involved him being arrested and served with a restraining order in the past.” Since moving from New Jersey to Georgia about a year ago, there apparently has been no recurrence of domestic violence, but he often becomes angry and controlling, Michele De Paola informed the officers.

“James De Paola admitted to pulling the phone from the wall because he did not want his wife to call 911 for a ‘stupid’ reason, police said,” WSB-TV added about the alleged grilled cheese rage incident.

“DePaola’s wife told officers he never hit her, because ‘she believed he was too afraid of going back to jail to get physically violent,'” Athens Patch explained.

As a practical matter, most Americans are fans of extra cheese rather than less cheese, whether it’s on grilled cheese sandwiches or on pizza or pasta.

According to Cheese Facts, moreover, Americans eat about two billion grilled cheese sandwiches every year.

With the popularity of cheese in mind, and perhaps adopting the carpe diem philosophy in reacting to the Georgia incident, Barstool Sports quipped that there is no such thing as too much cheese on a grilled cheese sandwich.

“You could get hit by a bus playing Pokemon GO today and regret not putting all the cheese on your grilled cheese sandwiches.”

The FoodBeast website had a similar satirical take on the too cheesy grilled cheese sandwich in Georgia.

“[I]s there even such a thing as too much cheese? The only ingredient in the sandwich is cheese, and if you’re going to become violently enraged over something like a cheese sandwich, you absolutely deserve to have the cops called on you…Cheese is not something to get violent over folks, especially too much cheese. An abundance of cheese should be celebrated. The world needs more cheese…”

It is also probably fair to say that there is something about grilled cheese sandwiches that tends to raise the temperature of those around them. For example, last summer, a pregnant Arkansas woman allegedly stabbed her boyfriend with a pair of scissors after the couple apparently argued about a grilled cheese sandwich being made as a midnight snack. The woman was charged with domestic battery.

In August of 2013, a dispute over a grilled cheese sandwich reportedly prompted a bloody brawl at the Rikers Island prison in New York City. The riot involved about 50 or more inmates and went on for about an hour. Undermanned corrections officers couldn’t do much about it other than watch behind the glass. The prisoners threw chairs and used mop sticks as weapons against each other.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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