The underside of a table tells a quieter story about its maker.

What somebody does where nobody will look is the honest measure. The top surface will be seen and judged, so it gets sanded either way; the hidden face is finished only by a person who thinks the standard applies regardless of audience. That is not a moral achievement exactly, more a settled habit about what counts as finished. It shows up in code, in accounts, in letters, in every craft with a back.

Check the underside of something you made recently: the part no reviewer will reach. Decide deliberately what standard you want to hold there, since nobody else will set it for you.