I made jam with my neighbor’s figs: was I wrong?
Editors' DilemmaOctober 28, 2026· Be the first to vote
A story made up by our editors to get the debate going, not a real account.
My side
My neighbor has a gorgeous fig tree. One big branch hangs over my backyard, and every late summer, it’s loaded with figs. He never picks them: they drop and splatter on my lawn. This summer, I decided to make the most of it. I picked everything hanging on my side, made twelve jars of jam, and gave them to my friends. My neighbor saw me picking from his window. He came over, a little cold, and said I could have asked. I don’t get it: I only touched the branch that’s on my property.
Their side
My neighbor explains that the tree is his, he planted it thirty years ago, and he was planning to pick the figs this year to make his own jam. According to him, the question isn’t which side the branch hangs on, it’s whether neighbors talk to each other. One jar, just one, would have made him really happy.
So, who's wrong?
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