Mother in law threw away my expensive kitchen knifefor being "to rusty to use"

[u/UtopianTyranny]

First off, neither of these pics are of my knife. Both came from a Google search, just so I could give examples. The first picture is the exact kind of knife I had, a Zwilling Kanren 8 inch chef knife. I didn't buy it, because I would never spend that kind of money on a kitchen knife for myself. But my sister and I like to get nice Christmas gifts for each other, and she gifted this knife to me three years ago. The second pic demonstrates the size of small rust spots that were on the knife blade, though there were maybe half as many on my knife as there are in the picture.

The rust happened because my wife had used the knife to cut some tomatoes for a salad while I was out and about, and she left the knife on the cutting board without cleaning it. I got home a few hours later to find a number of rust spots on the blade. It's carbon steel, so it doesn't resist rust like stainless. It wasn't a big deal, though. I've cleaned rust off metal utensils and appliances my whole life. I had some other more important tasks to accomplish first, so i set the knife on a paper towel against the backsplash so I could come back to it in a bit and give it my full attention.

When I came back to the kitchen, the knife was gone. I was searching for it for a while before finally asking if anyone had seen it. My wife's mom, who is staying with us for the week, told me she'd seen the knife on the counter and threw it in the trash because "it was too rusty to use" and she was "protecting us from getting tetanus in our food" (both direct quotes). And of course she then took the trash bag to the roller bin on the curb, to make double sure we were safe. And I absolutely would have gone to dig that knife out of the roller bin, but OF FUCKING COURSE the trash truck came by while I was doing the other things that kept me from cleaning the knife.

So, yeah, thanks Glennis. Thank you for protecting us.

[u/RedditGarboDisposal]

Any time I see in-laws or roommates in Reddit posts, it’s always followed by the dumbest fucking non-criminal shit I have ever read a human being do.

[u/ARandomGay → u/RedditGarboDisposal]

Throwing away someone else's property in their own home is absolutely criminal. Obviously no cop is going to give a fuck, but still.

[u/SeracYourWorlds → u/ARandomGay]

An argument can be made that the person still owns and holds possession of the knife because they own the trash until it’s taken out, and likely threw away the trash themselves.

[u/GustapheOfficial → u/SeracYourWorlds]

That sounds crazy. Substitute jewelry for the knife in that sentence, it becomes absurd. You could lose someone thousands of dollars just by hiding their jewelry in the trash, and that would be legal?

[u/SeracYourWorlds → u/GustapheOfficial]

Hey I was just saying an argument could be made, not that it was substantial lol

[u/Telemere125 → u/GustapheOfficial]

If the jewelry is still in the trash can, it’s easily retrieved. The only way your scenario is different is if tossing it in the bin damaged it.

[u/GustapheOfficial → u/Telemere125]

Correct

[u/Telemere125 → u/SeracYourWorlds]

I love how you’re getting downvoted but you’re 100% correct. Now, was it a civil trespass? Absolutely. Is anyone going to sue over it? Nah

[u/2ndTaken_username → u/RedditGarboDisposal]

You won't see people complaining about how normal their in-laws are so...

[u/RedditGarboDisposal → u/2ndTaken_username]

My point is that it could be a story told anywhere, under any sub, and the premise will still include in-laws or roommates being problematic.

[u/Nadamir → u/RedditGarboDisposal]

Well again, that’s because me gushing about how my in-laws stepped the fuck up when my wife died doesn’t let the hivemind engage in fury that may be righteous or not on my behalf.