How to get meals for you and two friends (plus dessert!) for under $5

It’s as easy as following a few simple steps:

1) Meet up with a couple friends at the Blue Plate Diner in Salt Lake City.

2) Order a Diet Coke; drink said Diet Coke like a thirsty beast. Ask the waitress for another one.

3) Have your new drink spilled all over the table, complete with a pile of ice ending up on your sandwich and fries.

4) In the all of the mayhem that ensues, brace yourself for the additional coffee inadvertently poured down your friend’s back. Onto her white shirt. And beautiful hair.

5) Listen politely to the manager’s profuse apologies and his offer for a free meal and dessert to go; take him up on said offer.

BONUS STEP: Leave a $5 tip because it’s just plain nice.

I headed out to brunch this morning, all set to catch up with friends and enjoy the holiday. Then the above occurred… After half a glass of Diet Coke almost ended up in my friend Andrea’s lap, she and I tried to stem the tide of cola with our meager scraps of napkin. Six seconds later we look up to our friend Jessica getting patted down by the waitress; Jessica is lifting up her hands in refusal and saying something to the effect of, “No, no, no!” Andrea and I both thought it was a bit odd that Jessica was having a freak-out (considering it was my drink and sandwich that had been ruined), only to discover that the waitress had a cup of hot coffee that had been spilled down poor Jes’s back in the midst of the hubbub.

The whole thing reminded me of the scene from Groundhog Day when they're in the diner and you hear all of the dishes crash... "Just put that anywhere!"

Food is delicious there, ambience is fun, so it really was quite a shame and a pity that our experience was marred by this unfortunate accident. The server felt extremely bad and couldn’t stop being as sweet as could be to try to make up for the mishap. The manager was incredibly kind, and I can’t help but feel for this poor woman and her clumsy act that made our (basically) free lunch possible. Well, monetarily it was free. I’m sure the emotional scars—and the laundry trauma—will be haunting Jessica for awhile.