It’s not appropriate to use a neighbor’s grill without their permission

Q. My husband was scheduled to grill some steaks for Easter dinner for our visiting family. He went out to get started but our grill apparently decided not to work. He came inside and called our neighbors who were out of town for the weekend, and had to leave a message asking if he could go over to their patio, grill our steaks, and then return to our house. After waiting about 30 minutes, my husband went over to our neighbor’s house, started the grill, grilled our steaks and brought them back to our patio.

We never got a call back at all from our neighbors. I was not in agreement with my husband’s decision and I felt our neighbors might really be upset. We cleaned their grill and then went over the first evening they were back. They weren’t upset at all, but should we have done that? Also, I want to get them a gift as a thank you, but my husband doesn’t think we need to do that. Shouldn’t we?

A. No, it was not proper for your husband to use your neighbor’s grill without their permission. Furthermore, what if something broke on it while he was using it? What if he accidentally burned himself while using it? What if it had a gas leak and exploded, injuring him and burning down the patio and part of their house? While I agree my “what if’s” are rather far-fetched; nonetheless, something could have happened.

Yes, you should get a gift of some kind for your neighbors; for example, a gift certificate to a nice restaurant. A handwritten thank-you note should accompany the gift.

This story was originally published April 23, 2017 at 8:00 AM with the headline "It’s not appropriate to use a neighbor’s grill without their permission."