In her short story “Why the Peterkins Had a Late Dinner,” Lucretia P. Hale demonstrated that life is far better with humility, patience, and laughter. These gifts illuminate the reality of one’s limitations, help bear one’s frailties and ignorance, and, subsequently, rise from faults with a laugh and lightheartedness.
Dinner Time
The Peterkins sit down to dinner. The table is set, everyone is present, and the only thing missing is the food. Amanda, the Peterkins’s cook, has finished making dinner downstairs and puts it in the dumbwaiter. However, when she gets upstairs and pulls on the cord, the dumbwaiter gets stuck halfway between the top floor and the kitchen. Each of the Peterkins goes to the dumbwaiter and pulls on the rope, but it refuses to budge.Mr. Peterkin announces to the family: “I am not proud. I am willing to dine in the kitchen.” So they all reconvene downstairs to have their dinner. Amanda sets the table for them in the kitchen and then heads to the dumbwaiter.
