craigd wrote:
"There's a big difference between an internal moral dilemma decision and fending off a predator. If my son accepts a gift from me, did he 'rip me off' or 'screw me', or are there exceptions to black and white."
Nobody's talking about gifts-that's a whole different matter. If you have all our marbles and give your son a shotgun, that's a very nice present. I gave two of my nephews each a sidelock. It was just a couple of presents.
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G, the story doesn't give enough background to determine if you were in a fit state of mind or if your nephews tricked you when you were vulnerable. What if I wrote, my son knew that his 'gift' was originally stolen. The piece I quoted was akin to, my two hundred dollar pump gun goes down on a big hunt and the local bubba wants seven hundred to fix it and salvage my big dollar trip.
In my story, I set the price of the gift, just as is the original story. The seller set the terms and she was under no moral or legal obligation to seek out an appraiser. What if the seller knew getting full value meant months of waiting on just the right buyer, but she needed it gone today because of her desires. Why might she give away boxes of tattered clothes that have real sentimental value with no scrutiny, but someone rocking back on their chair spots a crime if the gun has more value.
