"If you're looking for Sympathy, you've barked up the wrong Tree," said the Grouch.
"I'm not," was the Reply. "I've just received enough Sympathy to last me all Winter."
The Grouch snarled and reached for his Check Book.
"You can have whatever you need, but you don't deserve it," he said, and he signed it, leaving it Blank above.
"In view of the Fact that you have saved my Life, I will try to forgive you for lacerating my Feelings," said the Married Man.
They retained the Flat, but the Grouch is just as Unpopular as ever.
MORAL: A Friend who is very Near and Dear may in Time become as useless as a Relative.