Think back to the last time your whole family sat down for dinner.

Everybody finally gets to the table... somebody says, "Okay, let's eat"... and Dad is already done.

Not just done. Plate scraped clean. Napkin deployed. He's standing up asking, "Anybody want anything from the kitchen?"

Meanwhile, Mom is still working on the first half of her mashed potatoes.

Apparently, there's actually a name for this: the "eating speed gap."

Researchers are looking at what happens when couples eat at completely different speeds. One person is inhaling dinner like they're trying to beat a traffic light on Woodward, while the other is taking leisurely bites and enjoying the experience.

And Michigan families have a special version of this.

One person is eating dinner.

The other is eating dinner and checking the weather for the weekend.

The fast eater isn't necessarily doing anything wrong. Experts say couples who eat at different speeds may actually balance each other out. One person moves through life with a little more urgency, while the other takes things at a slower pace.

Which sounds nice until you're at a Michigan coney restaurant and your partner says:

"You don't have to eat so fast."

And you respond:

"I'm not eating fast. You're eating SLOW."

Now you've got a relationship debate happening over a plate of chili fries.

The biggest problem comes when the fast eater makes the slow eater feel rushed, gets up from the table before everyone else is finished, or worse...

YOU'RE SHARING A PLATE.

That's when things get serious.

Because if one person eats 80 percent of the nachos before the other person gets three chips, that's no longer an "eating speed gap."

That's a crime scene.

And if you're eating at a Michigan restaurant and your partner says, "I'm just going to have a bite of yours..."

Guard your coney.

Guard it with your life.

Experts say the key is simply talking about it if different eating speeds are becoming a problem.

Just make sure you have that conversation before the fast eater finishes.

Because once that plate hits the dishwasher...

The meeting is adjourned.