What do people really mean when they say someone is good deep down?

Filbert was a bit of a nut. His wife would say that all the time with a chuckle. Usually she said this right after he pulled “one of his stunts.” It was not easy being married to Filbert, and her little pun was just one way she coped. When Filbert acted out, his friends would say, “that’s just Filbert being Filbert,” and offer a wry little laugh of their own.

The people who worked for Filbert generally feared him. For decades he had held his entire building floor in a simmering state of anxious misery that occasionally boiled over into roiling terror.

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