DEAR ABBY: My husband, children and I were visiting our friend "Rosemary" and her husband. Our boys were playing with water guns in the front yard. One of them opened Rosemary's car door to block himself from his brother's line of fire. Rosemary, understandably, became upset and went to shut the door before the interior of her vehicle got soaked. As she did so, our son slammed the door and caught her hand in it, breaking two fingers.
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We apologized profusely, thought all was forgiven and returned home. A week ago, we received a letter from Rosemary stating that we owe her money for several weeks of lost wages due to the mishap. (She's a massage therapist.) I feel that accidents happen and it just as easily could have happened to her if our children weren't present. My husband says we should give her the money because it was our child who injured her and it's a way to save our friendship. What should we do? -- "HAND"-ED A CHALLENGE
DEAR "HAND"-ED: What your son did was unfortunate, but your attitude about it is appalling. You should not only reimburse Rosemary for the work she lost, you should also offer to pay for her medical expense.
P.S. Your son should also take responsibility and offer to do errands for her for a specific period of time.