Dear Prudence,
My adult son and his girlfriend, “Mara,” have been staying with me due to the pandemic for the last two months. Last week, Mara accidentally used my contact solution. It’s a particular cleaner with hydrogen peroxide, and you have to let the contacts soak for six hours at a minimum, until it neutralizes into a saline solution. The bottle has a bright red cap and a warning label, but Mara did not read it or speak to me before using it. As a result, she burned one of her eyes. It’s been a week, and her vision is apparently still blurry.
My son has asked me to pay for Mara’s eye doctor appointment. I am living off of Social Security, and I don’t have the money. Besides, Mara used something without asking and then disregarded the very visible warning signs on the bottle. This has caused heightened tension in the midst of an already stressful time. Who’s in the right here? And, assuming I don’t end up paying, how do I heal this rift with Mara?
—Peroxide Problems