As Jake walks down the Boulevard for "coffee and brioche," he notices the daily life of others around him: students heading to school, vendors selling their wares, tourist exploring the city, the tram loaded with people going to work. Jake observes these activities while leisurely reading his paper and enjoying a cigarette. After reaching his office, he reads the morning papers and works until 11 a.m. He calls it a day and shares a cab with Krum and Woolsey. Krum declares that he has been too busy to visit Jake (at either his apartment or in a nightclub) or even play tennis on the weekends; he is a family man, and his wife and kids take up his free time. Woolsey, like Krum, declines Jake's offer to have a morning cocktail; Woolsey has deadlines to meet later that day. It is clear that though Jake may be good at his job, he finds it boring, and he treats it as a mere sideline for his neverending stops at Parisian cafes. While the rest of the city is at work, Jake continues his lost ways.
