Melvin and Lenny were co-workers, but they weren’t friends.  They were far too different from each other.  Melvin was always moody and never laughed.  Talking to him meant that you would hear how miserable his life was.  Lenny laughed at every joke, smiled all the time, and would never complain.  He frustrated Melvin, but they were only co-workers, so he dealt with Lenny.

One day Melvin was in a truly foul mood and couldn’t take any more of Lenny’s laughing and smiling.  He cornered his co-worker in the break room at the end of the day when the office was nearly empty.

“I don’t understand,” Melvin said in a cracking voice.  “You are always happy.  Why are you always happy?”

Lenny smiled and patted Melvin on the shoulder.  “Because people expect it of me.”

“What?” Melvin blurted out, caught off-guard by the answer.

“In the last year, I have lost my dear wife, my home, and my daughter has moved overseas. I haven’t heard from her in four months,” Lenny explained.  He wiped a few tears from his eyes and took a deep breath. “It has been a difficult time and I don’t want to burden other people with my problems.  They have their own problems.”

“Why would you suffer like that?”

“It is how I choose to live.”

Melvin rubbed his eyes and sighed in frustration.  “People live together to share their problems and lend an ear.  It’s the only way to avoid the misery from festering, which is why I don’t hide that I’m unhappy.  I suggest you do that a little before you go mad.”

“I don’t want to be a bother,” Lenny politely insisted.  He walked toward the exit, his steps a little heavier than Melvin had ever seen.

“Wait!” Melvin shouted as he approached Lenny.  “I’m not really a social person, but I’d be willing to listen to your problems.  It might be nice to hear someone vent instead of being the one venting.”

“Thank you,” Lenny said with tears in his eyes.

For the first time in his employment, Melvin smiled.  “You’re welcome . . . friend.”

Is there a moral to the story?  Depends on your perspective on life.  Lenny could be right that the best way to go through life is to put on a smile and never let the world see your tears.  On the other hand, Melvin could be right that you have to vent and release the negative energy.  Personally, I think the moral is this:

Everyone needs at least one friend to balance them.  A miserable person needs a happy friend to hold them up.  A happy person needs a miserable friend to be there when they are faced with darkness that they don’t understand.

That’s just me though.  What about you?