Saucy explosion left friend red in the face

READING Don Townshend’s article about what a struggle it was to keep his clothes clean (Peterborough), I remembered an incident that happened to a colleague of mine when we went out for lunch. I used to work in the office at a motorway depot just off junction 29 of the M1. Apart from Jean, the depot’s part-time cleaner, my colleague Deborah and I were the only females working there. Once a month, Deborah and I would go out to lunch instead of having our usual sandwiches. We’d often drive the five miles to the outskirts of Chesterfield town centre and go to Frankie & Benny’s. On one visit, Deborah ordered a cheeseburger and asked for tomato ketchup. The waitress brought an unopened glass bottle of a very famous brand. Picking up the bottle, Deborah shook it vigorously and then removed the lid. There was a loud whomp! noise and a fountain of ketchup shot out of the bottle like lava from a volcano! Deborah was covered in it — it was in her hair and on her face and her clothes. As we stared at one another in shocked silence, the waitress rushed over with a pile of paper napkins and sachets of hand wipes. Deborah rushed off to the ladies to clean up as best as she could. When she returned and sat back down, I leaned over to her and asked: ‘Do you want some fries with that ketchup?’ Her reply was unrepeatable!

Jane Smith, Chesterfield, Derbyshire.