Response to "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"

Young Waiter: This waiter shows the stage in life of youth and ignorance. Even though he is trying not to be insincere to the old man (he states he's only in a hurry), he is, rushing the man on his way and kicking him out, even though he is only a "clean" drunk. The young waiter is not thinking of his destined future to be like the old man someday (lonely and sad). He even states that "[he doesn't] want to be that old." Because "an old man is a nasty thing". 

Older Waiter: This waiter is in the stage of a middle-aged man. He is beginning to see his future of loneliness and sadness. Because he is not as ignorant as the other waiter is to his determined future, he has some more consideration for others who like to stay up at night and drink away (because drinking eases the pain of knowledge acquired from the years of memories). 

The Café: The clean, well-lighted place, is a setting where you can feel safe and warm. If you go there, you are participating in society, feeling of a somewhat importance. The two waiters even discuss how drinking alone at home is not the same as at a bar. I believe that if you are alone at home, you are isolated, thus feeling more lonely. However, if you are alone at a bar/cafe, you are included, thus feeling less lonely. The cafe is society, where people of all different stages in life can mix, it is a place where the old can drink, the middle-aged men can think, and the ignorant young men can waste a few years by just being there. It can mean something to different people. But obviously the clean, well-lighted places are the best.