Wow, what a turn this thread has taken. The OP didn’t have questions or concerns about the ethics, morality, or human integrity of accepting the gift, he had already made his mind up on that… and that’s the way it should be. Everyone has their own moral code they live by; mine and yours will probably disagree more often than it will agree… but that doesn’t make one right and the other wrong. Pushing your personal ethical/moral beliefs on the OP (or me) puts you in the same class as those bible-thumpers that knock on your door every other month… TO CLAIM YOURS IS OF A HIGHER STANDARD THAN MINE MAKES YOU A SANCTIMONIOUS S.O.B.! The OP asked a simple question, “
If she gives it to me would the husband have any legal recourse against me to get it back?” And the simple answer is,
NO the husband does not have any legal recourse against you.
Now, as far as the “
What If’s?… Let’s say the situation was twisted at a bit of a different angle… Let’s say the wife had run off with another stud and the husband just wanted to dispose of the wood before the wife (and her lawyer) took him to the cleaners. Would you still be asking those same “
what if’s? Would you be thinking…
‘
What if the real story is the husband had a fight with the wife because she buys too many chainsaws and spends too much time cutting. So he says I'll fix her and he decides to give her wood away??'
I’m betting you’d load that wood in a half heartbeat. I’m betting you wouldn’t be asking those same “
what if’s? Why? Because he’s a man and she’s a women? Because men are more trustworthy? Because women lie? Or because……….? Doesn’t matter why, IT STILL MAKES YOU A HYPOCRITE!!! And it really raises questions about your motives and morality… Guess what? My personal moral code won’t let me be hypocritical! …or judge the morality of someone else!
Maybe the guy doesn’t own a chainsaw, has never cut a stick of wood in his life… maybe he bought the wood (using their joint money) to use in the fireplace twice a year (Christmas and New Years). Y’all are making unfounded assumptions.
In a perfect world, we would know all the facts… we would know both sides of every story. But this ain’t a perfect world… is it? Most of the time we just have to go with what we do know… and gut feeling.
- The wife says he ran off with some hussy to another state.
- The husband isn’t around. (That fits her story… yeah, there could be another explanation… but it still fits.)
- The husband’s buddy is trying to sell the wood for the husband. (Again, that fits her story… if the husband was in-state he’d be selling it himself.)
- The wife readily admits wanting to spite the “scumbag” by giving the wood away first. (Doesn’t appear she’s holding anything back about her story.)
- There isn’t anything (from the OP) to indicate she’s being untruthful or deceitful.
And I’m bettin’ the OP knows more than what he put in his post… which also weighed in on his decision of ethical matters.
You have no way of knowing she needs the wood for heat… maybe they just have a fire pit in the back yard. Maybe they did a lot of camping and took wood with them. Maybe it’s just a fireplace designed for aesthetics only and she has absolutely no clue how to use it. (Maybe the OP knows the answer but didn’t see the relevance of posting it.)
Maybe I should “
lighten up” a bit… But also, some of y’all need to climb down off that high-horse you’re sitting on.[/QUOTE
:monkey: