In "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," why does the older waiter like to keep the caf© open late into the night?

The old
waiter likes to keep the cafe open until late at night because it provides a refuge or safe
haven for people against the nothingness and darkness of the outer world. It is quiet, without
music, and customers can sit at a table, not have to stand at a bar. It is clean, well lit, and
orderly; a cut above a bodega. As the older waiter puts it:

"Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the
caf©."

"Hombre, there are bodegas open all night
long."

"You do not understand. This is a clean and pleasant caf©.
It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the
leaves." 

The old waiter shows he has empathy for
others who are lonely. When the younger waiter says that the deaf old man who is preventing them
from closing the cafe can drink at home, the old waiter says it is not the same to be at home.
The younger waiter agrees but he has his own life to live, he wants to get to his wife, and he
cannot relate to the deaf man drinking brandy by himself. The young waiter says:

"I'm sleepy now. I never get into bed before three o'clock. He
should have killed himself last week." 

But the old
waiter has a deep well of humanity that understands the human need for a little warmth and light
in a meaningless world.