Am I overreacting:

[Smith]

Ok, picture this:

I had two old 12" chainsaws (roughly 25 years old) that my dad left when he died.  As I have recently moved back to the south, I decided to get them running.  My sister in law lives up in the woods and told my wife that she'd like one for her b-day.  Fine I said, and I took both to a repair guy and paid for it to be fixed (bad diaphragms and such).    Anyway, my wife told her that I was "really excited" to teach her how to use it but she didn't want that...she'd look it up on the internet.  Ok, kind of a slap in the face.  Ok, could I at least teach you a few safety/maintenance things?  No, none of that either, she'd learn it all on her own.  My wife had to explain to her that since it was my dad's chainsaw that it was important to me to show her...and then she finally got it, but never apologized.  Now, she has a few limbs to cut and for whatever reason the saw isn't running so well.  She called today and started b*tching to my wife about it and apparently took it to a local guy there and he said that it "doesn't even have a knuckle guard...it's a POS" (ok, since when did 25 year old chainsaws have knuckle guards?)...so she's complaining and is giving it back.

Where I grew up this was called looking a gift horse in the mouth.  I'm really quite offended by this and told her she was very rude on the phone just then.  Am I overreacting?!

BTW, she's a social worker (degreed) and works for Hospice.  You'd think she'd have a little skill with inter-personal stuff.

[griz]

Pardon me, would please repeat that? I must have missed it the first time.

[Moondoggie]

I'm having a really hard time picturing it.

[Smith]

Sorry guys, I fat fingered the button and then had to type the long post.

[The Rabbi]

Short answer: yes.

[DJJ]

Yes. Take it back with a smile, be glad you'll have gotten it back (instead of her giving it away or something), and buy her a new one.

[Justin]

Wait until she inadvertently hacks one of her own limbs off.

Point.

Laugh.

Repeat as needed.

[Moondoggie]

As soon as I read "Sister in law" I knew things were headed south.

I'd try hard to overlook it and limit my contacts with her in the future to the minimun necessary.  I'm not saying I'd succeed at overlooking it, but I'd give it a try.

I don't think you're necessarily over reacting, but I don't think there's anything you're going to be able to do to improve the situation except add distance.  Don't worry about things you can't control if you can help it.

I wouldn't buy her a new one as suggested above since this was an unsolicited gift in the first place.

You tried to do something nice for someone in your family...it blew up in your face as these thing often do.  Forget about it and move on.  Let her stew in her own juices, I'm pretty sure your's isn't the first bridge she's burned and probably won't be the last, either.

[Smith]

Thanks guys.  Even though some of your answers were on opposite ends of the spectrum, they were all helpful.

[Vodka7]

Definitely don't buy her a new one.  She'll get it, and then a week later you'll hear how she looked on the internet and found twelve that were cheaper and had better reviews.

Anyone who wants to teach themselves how to use, of all things, a 25-year old CHAINSAW off of the internet, when they have an offer from a relative who's knowledgeable and happy to help, is insane.

Like DJJ said, be glad you'll get it back.  She sounds like the type of person who would have just as soon left it at the shop and told the guy behind the counter to trash it.

[K Frame]

No, I don't think you are overreacting.

She's acting like a spoilt bitch, and needs to be treated as such.

You went out of your way to do something nice for her, and she shat all over you.

I'll break my ass for my family and friends. But if one of those individuals pulls something like this on me (and it has happened), they're pretty much dead to me. They go into the same category as Jehova's Witness door-to-door people. I'm polite, and that's all.

Let her buy her own chainsaw, and let her find her own fingers or foot in the pile of sawdust after she cuts it off because she was too stupid to take lessons from a knowledgeable user.

[mtnbkr]

Extremely rude IMO.

Stories like this make me glad I have the inlaws that I have.  

Chris

[griz]

My guess is she was just looking for a free source for a chain saw. The value as a keep sake never occured to her. Yes she is being selfish, so if she needs to have her limbs trimed (no pun inteded), let her look that up on the internet.

[Tallpine]

I assume this sister inlaw doesn't have a husband of her own ...?

Sounds to me like she shouldn't handle any tools other than a very dull spoon  

Forget it, keep the saws for yourself, and don't go out of your way to do anything for her in the future.

PS: what brand are the old saws?  My $0.02 is that anything other than a Stihl or Husky isn't worth messing with.

[DrAmazon]

Regarding the "not wanting you to show her"...

Often us girls don't do well learning things from men that we are "involved" with, either by blood or by relationship, especially if we've had a bad experience trying to learn something from the man in question.    We'd rather try to learn it on our own (or from a man who we've paid to show us) than have a big emotional blowup with a man that we've got to deal with in other capacities.  

Any of you who've seen a guy teaching his girlfriend/wife to shoot, drive, ski etc. knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Take back the chain saw, be thankful she didn't hurt herself or undo any of the maintenance work that you had done to it, and try to let it go.  There are so many bigger battles that are worth fighting over in a family.

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

Wait until she inadvertently hacks one of her own limbs off.

Point.

Laugh.

Repeat as needed.

+1

[Brad Johnson]

Let's see,

She got a freebie that you paid to have fixed up for her, then she starts griping about it.

Hmmmmm....

Have to go with the "spoiled rotton brat" theory on this one. Get your saw back and let her buy and learn to use her own.

Brad

[grampster]

Let her get her own saw.  Be glad that she didn't trade in your dad's saw.  She's is an insensitive brat.  Repay her unkindness and insensitivity by being a gentleman and with future kind acts.  That's how good guys and gentlemen act.