The old man is said to have money, so this is not a reason for his sadness. It is also stated that he had a wife, but is no longer married. The author shows the reader that everything the optimistic and carefree young waiter had, the old man also had and he still ended up in a ball of misery. In fact, just as the young waiter has a job and a wife, so once upon a time the old man had one too. The old man is also deaf, which explains the sharpening of his other senses. The old man never expressed it, but the older waiter, with the ability to scrutinize other characters, explains the need for coffee to the younger waiter. «I'm one of those who likes to stay late at the bar, said the older waiter. With all those who don't want to go to bed. With everyone who needs a light at night…You don't understand. This is a clean and pleasant cafe. It is well lit. The light is very good and even, now, there are the shadows of the leaves” (Kennedy and Gioia, 169). Coffee is life's mini vacation from nowhere. In a world that rots in the daily monotony of nada, coffee brings light. The light was an escape from sadness for the deaf man and it was a clear and clean place for the older waiter. “It wasn't fear or terror. It was a nothing he knew too well. Everything was nothing and even a man was nothing. It was just that and the light and a certain cleanliness and order were enough" (Kennedy and Gioia, 169). This means that coffee was something unique to each of the people who needed it, and that it was important and a constant fortress of refuge in a world of