SPLASH
Morning sunlight, fresh coffee, brand-new pajamas—and then… SPLASH. In this relatable and laugh-out-loud reflection, Maggie MacDougal celebrates life’s most predictable betrayal: spilled coffee. From holiday mishaps to white couches living dangerously, SPLASH is a warm, witty ode to America’s favorite beverage and its uncanny ability to both ruin your morning and somehow never ruin your clothes. Equal parts caffeine-fueled confession and domestic survival guide, this story reassures us that while coffee may test our reflexes, our patience, and our laundry skills, it still deserves our unwavering loyalty. Shirley Temples, however, remain highly suspect.
GUEST WRITER'S FEATURE ARTICLES
Maggie MacDougal
1/11/20262 min read
The sun is coming up in the sky, and hues of pink and yellow shine bright in the distance. Rays of the sunshine through the window. The timer on the coffee maker starts the machine to brew your favorite morning drink. It’s 6:30 a.m., and the aroma of coffee lingers strongly in the air. You wake up slowly, stumble into the kitchen, and grab a mug. You can smell the notes of flavor of your favorite brew and pour yourself a tall cup of coffee. You raise the mug and then SPLASH! The mug misses your lips, and the coffee spills all over your new Christmas pajamas.
Yes, coffee spills. It can happen this way. You then run into the laundry room to hurry and get your pj’s in the washer, or your favorite turtleneck, or a pair of jeans. It has happened to all of us. It even happened to me on Thanksgiving when a guest spilled an entire cup of coffee on my white sofa. It seems to happen at the most inappropriate times – during the morning rush, in the car, when you are out to dinner wearing a new ensemble, at the kids' soccer game, and always during the holidays.
The immediate reaction is to rush and get a cloth with cold water. Then we move on to soap and finally upholstery cleaner. While your garment is in the washer or dryer, or your couch is drying after a puddle of water you spilled on it, you are secretly praying that the new shirt or sweater, or the white couch, will not stain. In my experience, as further testament to this great beverage, it never does. I have experienced splashed coffee and coffee spills on everything from sofas to white turtlenecks, rugs, comforters, and blankets.
I have been able to get the stain out every time without the beige circle of the spill being evident on any piece of clothing or furniture. This great cup of caffeine not only gets us going in the morning, makes for great social interactions, a great date, or a get-together with the girls, and gets us through the kids' soccer game, but it will also rarely ruin an article of clothing or your new Christmas pjs.
So, the next time you spill a cup of coffee, stay calm, look for some cold water, and be patient while it dries. Most of all, don’t give up on America's favorite beverage. I’m not so sure I can say the same for a Shirley Temple spilling on my white couch, and I don’t want to think about it
