Patience

On a cold lifeless street, late in the evening, there sits a well lit café and one lonely old man drowning his sorrows in alcoholic beverages. While the two waiters watch, the old man fumbles with another glass of brandy. The younger waiter does not understand the old man's pain and shows no patience towards his sulking behavior. As shown in this story empathy towards other people develops with maturity.

The young waiter’s lack of patience is displayed when asked what is an hour “More to me than to him.” replied the young waiter. His narcissistic personality allows no patience and empathy towards the old man. He wants to rush home to his life away from the café. The best description of the younger waiter's personality is that he is self centered; he is all for himself and thinks about no one else.

In the short story the old waiter shows patience with the old man because he can relate to what he is going through. When the younger waiter kicked the old man out, the older waiter displayed patience and empathy by questioning the younger waiter about why he is rushing to close the café. "I am one of those people who like to stay late at the café" said the older waiter "With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night.”

The old man enjoys café because of the shadows cast upon the café late at night; this represents the loneliness of his life. The old man's psychological problem is that he is depressed about approaching death and losing his friends and loved ones. He does not recognize that people care about him and does not understand that bad times can get better. One example in this short story of people caring about him is when he attempts to hang himself and his niece saves him from death.


“A clean well lighted place” by Ernest Hemingway teaches that no matter who is going through what, you should treat them with patience, and respect. By displaying empathy towards others you create a common bond which you can share forever.