The Glass Castle

The above comment was meant as a compliment. The man, who was a regular at the bar, knew Jeannette's father and knew how he was. When he offered to drive Jeannette and her father home..... Rex was too drunk to drive.... a regular occurrence. In speaking with Jeannette, he was impressed by her aspirations, especially knowing her father and his struggle with alcohol.

I told him I was studying hard because I wanted to become either a veterinarian or a geologist specializing in the Miocene period, when the mountains out west were formed. I was telling him how geodes were created from bubbles in lava when he interrupted me. "For the daughter of the town drunk, you sure got big plans," he said.

"I know you took offense at what I said," the man told me. "Thing is, I meant it as a compliment."