Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge’s niece and her husband have just returned from their honeymoon. The Eldridges know that they should throw the newlyweds a party. After all, it’s expected of them to do so.
After settling on a date for the party, Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge begin planning the menu. Everyone will expect drinks and, with 70 to 80 people, Mr. Eldridge calculates that they will need to buy “three dozen of champagne; a dozen of sherry; a dozen of port; a dozen of hock, and a gallon of brandy.”
However, after Mr. Eldridge leaves, their 16-year-old son, Henry, approaches Mrs. Eldridge. Having overheard all their plans for the party, Henry begs his mother not to have alcohol at the party.
Mrs. Eldridge is shocked. Not serve alcohol? Such a decision would be disastrous and bring ridicule from their friends, for alcohol at a party is customary.
Coffee Over Compliments
Henry makes such good arguments that Mrs. Eldridge feels troubled and conscience-stricken. She soon believes that it would be better to have coffee. It was well known that the bridegroom was once a partier and had a problem with public intoxication.
Later, when Mr. Eldridge returns, she tells him her plan of having coffee instead of alcohol at the party: “These liquors are not only expensive, but dangerous things to offer freely in mixed companies ... the more I think about it the more settled my purpose becomes.”
Mr. Eldridge is taken aback. No alcohol? He’s sure they will become a laughingstock. And yet, he acknowledge the sense in his son’s words. Moreover, seeing Mrs. Eldridge’s growing determination to have coffee, Mr. Eldridge relents.
The guests arrive early. As dinner is late in the evening, all of their friends head to the refreshment table. Mrs. Eldridge serves the coffee and Mr. Eldridge chats, and they watch with anticipation, dreading the coffee’s reception.
Through this story, Arthur demonstrates not only the special nature of coffee, but also the power and importance of following one’s conscience over societal expectations. By resisting popular opinion to uphold goodness and virtue, the Eldridges gain a far higher reward than they would have by sacrificing their convictions to peer pressure.
Just as the strong, aromatic smell of coffee drifts through the air, Louisa May Alcott’s words from “Little Women” float with a strong and familiar feeling through the room: “I'd rather take coffee than compliments just now.” Her words provide the familiar comfort of coffee and its communal power, yet her words also carry a determined power to resist excess flattery.
Like Alcott, Arthur suggests that a good cup of coffee and morality should be chosen over a compliment any day.
