What lies beneath?

Everyone thought he was just a loafer, a whiner, a sourpuss and a troublemaker. Being quite familiar with his unpredictable and labile temperament, people generally stayed away from his path. Friends, he had only a handful. Still, he volunteered himself to be active in the unrewarding job of the Resident Associations' committee member. Perhaps that was his only way to get back at his unforthcoming neighbours. People thought he found joy in pushing people to do things all in the name of authority bestowed upon him.
It was a frequent occurrence to see him at loggerheads and trying to prove his point at the top of his voice, sometimes in a thuggish manner. In short, he was no different from grumpy old Scrooge - a neighbour fron hell!
When Chinese New Year came around, everyone was expecting his home to be a drab devoid of pomp, hues, smell and merriment pathognomonic of the festivities. Surprise, surprise!
Everyone was pleasantly perplexed that Mr Gloom Doom also had a string of visitors. Not only was he carving his unseen smile, he was seen cracking chuckles with his nephews and nieces! We all wondered why he could not like this everyday! Even old Scrooge had his admirers and was a source of inspiration to his friends and relatives.He was a somebody's somebody.
When we see someone, we always form an opinion about him. He try to compartmentalise him into categories that we make ourselves. A person is either good or bad, sociable or recluse, warm or cold, period. Perhaps, these classifications eases us in our daily approach to an unfamiliar situations, preparing us for fight, flight, friendship or support
Unfortunately, many things are never all-or-none in rule. The fact that a human has to wear many hats makes him don many masks to play different characters in different life roles and duties. We can never know everything about everyone. What lies behind the exoskeleton is anybody's wild guess....