OMG is all I can say. But, how do you describe such a one? Well, Jeannette Walls has done a pretty good job in "The Glass Castle".
And the Dad! What another freaking genidiot! He asks her what she wants for her birthday and she says "quit the booze" (nicely of course :) and he tries. And fails, of course. Later, to keep her from moving to NY, he shows her his plans for completing the "glass castle" - a house he was planning to build (never mind that he never had a steady job in that place and was hooched all the time). But, this time round, though she's more grown up, it doesn't strike her to ask "Dad, do you think that's what I want, or do you know what I really want?"
A few snippets to demonstrate the workings of the mind of a freaking idiot :
Mom, the neighbors use fly paper and they don't have flies or lizards. We should get some from the grocery stores. ….. No. If we kill the flies then the lizards won't have anything to eat and if the lizards die, then the cats and birds won't have anything to eat.
School administers a eye exam and says Lori will need prescription glasses to correct her vision to be admitted...… Nosiree. If her eyesight is bad, it just means she needs to exercise her eyes more.
Moving from Phoenix to W. Virginia (Welch) (after the freaking idiot squanders her *entire* inheritance - for a while they actually lived okay) : what should we do with the house - sell it or rent it? …… Neither. It's our house and it can stay our house. We'll just leave dishes in the sink and hang out the laundry so people will think it's occupied...…… Of course, months later, the house is completely gutted. Literally everything gone. Idiot!!!!
Splashing in the pool at the Phoenix Public Library and gathering a crowd.... "Mind your own beeswax"
"You know you're down and out when the Okies are laughing at you"..... (after they have to rope down the hood of their car when their driving cross country and have garbage bags in place of the windows when they stop rolling up)
… Mom had a powerful sweet tooth - putting at least eight teaspoons of sugar in a cup of tea.... Well, you figured the Dad is a nutcase too... he's gotten a hole dug for the foundation of the glass castle and, till he's ready to pour concrete, they use it as a garbage dump - which, of course, fills up pretty quick, and, yes, attracts a huge river rat. Since Mom needs so much sugar, an ordinary sugar bowl won't do - no sir, it needs to be a punch bowl. Well, one day, the rat is wallowing in it and, later that day, after it's terrorized the littlest kid, the part-Russell-terrier-mutt that's befriended the boy kills the rat. Mom felt sorry for the rat. "Rats need to eat too." And christens it "Rufus." Idiot!!!!!!
As a schoolteacher in Welch, her kids had to help her grade the students' homework, because they knew how much her paycheck was worth to them in food. Eventually, she refuses to get out of bed - though for months and months, they've been getting her ready for school - yes, kids getting the mom ready for work - "I'm a grown woman. So why cant' I do what I _want_ to do?"
Once when Brian finds a ring in the house - and they figure out it is silver and diamond. She gets is appraised and, mom, if we sell it, we could buy a lot of food..... "That's true, but it could also improve my self-esteem and at times like these, self-esteem is more important than food."
And, boy does Jeannette have one of those Maria Shriver lapses in failing to ask the right question! As in - Maria had asked Arnold if Joseph was his son and Arnold denied it because he didn't know Joseph was his son. Really? Should the right answer (never mind the question) be "no, because I never had sex with his mother"? Why couldn't Maria have confirmed that? Duh. Likewise, in this case, the right question was "Mom, how do you know Uncle Jim's land is worth a million dollars?" Idiot!!!! "We need to buy Uncle Jim's land to keep it in the family for sentimental reasons. You never sell that land."
Later, they're homeless and squatting and scavenging, etc and Jeannette brings up the house in Phoenix..... "I'm saving that for a rainy day." ….. "Mom, it's pouring." ……. "It's just a drizzle. There could be monsoons ahead." Idiot!!!!!!
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