The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Sports & Leisure => Topic started by: side_show on June 16, 2006, 07:44:46 pm
-
Why are dads so damn hard to shop for?
Every year, it's "what do you want for Father's Day?" And he's all "Oh, I don't know, I don't need anything..." So I give up and get him a gift certificate that he never uses, or a DVD of a movie he sort of likes, and he tries to act pleased... but he's just not. He's not. And then every few years, I spend hours looking for something, and he opens it, and he's never all that enthusiastic about whatever it is, even if I did put a lot of though into it. I could be all "Hey dad, for Father's day, I got you a heart for that heart transplant you need," and he'd be all, " Well, thanks, I guess."
He's retired. He doesn't much like sports. He's not a big fan of any specific musician or actor or artist. He has health problems and shouldn't eat junk food.
What the hell do I get this guy? What I ask you?
And why are dads so hard to shop for?
-
I'm not going to see my Dad on Fathers day this year. I'm sure it's not the first time that's happened, but I miss everybody back home.
~Paul
-
Oh, man. I don't have that problem; my father's a big science-fiction buff and always goes on about what author he's really enjoying at the moment, so when his birthday or Father's Day comes up it's time to compare the set A of his bookshelf with the set B of new releases from that author and gift him with any object meeting the criteria B not A.
-
I'm easy to shop for.
My Dad's a pain to shop for. Old ethnic guys don't want anything and he came from a non-gift-giving culture so he doesn't really understand how to receive a gift. It's frustrating.
I'll take a day out with the family over most gifts anyway. The real problem comes when people feel obligated on Father's day but really wouldn't otherwise bother.
-
I've never bought a Fathers Day gift. We just go out for food.
~Paul
-
Get him a gift card for Borders or B&N. Books, magazines, CDs, hell, coffee... there's gotta be some damn thing there he likes, and if he doesn't use it, that's his freakin' problem.
Amazon wish lists are teh awesome; for this very reason I berate anyone who claims I'm tough to shop for. I've also instructed the missus that a gift card from Barbecues Galore will probably always be a good Fathers' Day gift.
-
I kind of like the Victorinox Swiss Army MP3 player but I doubt I'll get one.
-
See I would take him out to eat, but, my mom (who has a serious anxiety disorder) was freaking out on the phone just before my original post that my dad has stopped taking his heart medication and has continued to refuse to eat vegetables... gah!
Ah, Pedro, don't gift certificates smack of no effort and not caring though? Also, my sister got him a subscription to a magazine, and the local equivalent of Barnes and Noble here is a store called McNally Robinson, which is a place he refuses to shop at... Fuckin' hell.
He used to teach autobody repair when I was little, and just redid his garage, so I think I'm going to buy him a clock shaped like a hub cap, or a tin sign, or some other auto-related memorabilia.
-
Ah, Pedro, don't gift certificates smack of no effort and not caring though?
Depends on the gift certificate and the context. Giving a comics fan a gift certificate to the local comics shop is a better-considered gift than buying him comics, for example, because knowing what comic a fan will want and what he will hate is a matter of arcane perplexities most people have no reason to know or care about, and comics fans know this and would rather get a gift certificate than something they will be unable to explain why they hate. The same is true for people with other specialized and esoteric hobbies.
Anyway, the auto-repair memorabilia sounds like a good idea from my underinformed view.
-
Pedro?
Depends on your point of view, I guess. I dig receiving gift cards. I will generally write a thank you note saying "I got these awesome things! Thanks!" I am much more enthusiastic about being able to pick out exactly what I want, rather than getting something kind of lame that my in-laws cluelessly thought was a good gift, and having to feign appreciation.
-
see, that sounds like a nice and thoughtful gift.
what will I get my dad? I do not know. Hm.
-
Why are we hard to shop for? To give you damn kids back a little of the constant torment we get the other 364 days of the year!
YOU'LL PUT YOUR EYE OUT!
BECAUSE I SAID SO!
IF LITTLE JOHNNY NEXT DOOR JUMPED OFF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, WOULD YOU DO IT TOO?
-
See I would take him out to eat, but, my mom (who has a serious anxiety disorder) was freaking out on the phone just before my original post that my dad has stopped taking his heart medication and has continued to refuse to eat vegetables... gah!
Take him out to eat. And since it's his day, leave Mom at home. And don't nag him about the heart meds, either. And if he wants to order a 1 lb serving of medium rare fat and a 9 oz baked potato with 6 oz of butter and 6 oz of sour cream, let him. It's his day.
-
but...
but..
doesn't father's day include caring for your dad, and not wanting him to hurt his health?
maybe you can cook him a delicious healthier-than-what-'dawg-said meal!
-
I got my dad a gift of a dvd boxed set, and we may go out see a movie, have dinner or something.
We ain't fancy.
-
I bought him this lame book by Tim Russert about like what we learned from our fathers, or some stupid shit. He really likes Russert and lame books, so he will probably like it.
-
Yay Russert! Thank you for increasing the levels of very warm CO2 in our atmosphere you useless prick!
*steps off soapbox*
As usual this year I will be getting my Dad a card completely unrelated to Father's Day and then maybe taking him out to dinner if we can get through such a thing.
*rifles through the cards I have prepared for just such occassions* I'm wondering if I should give him "Sorry to hear you lost a front tooth." or "Sometimes Pets Just have to Go." Decisions, Decisions.
-
My dad's the same way. He doesn't like sports or anything, and he kinda likes dumb sci-fi movies, but every time I give him a dvd he seems very ambivalent. This year I got him what he asked for - a blue polo shirt with a pocket. But I got it from american apparel, so it's at least a little weird.
He works a lot, and he's married to his job (minister). Which is fine, but it makes gift giving hard. Especially since my sister has the bobblehead jesus action figures cornered.
-
Mite, that your dad is a minister explains a lot.
-
It's Father's Day?
I don't believe in this sort of thing. Sorry.
-
Mite, that your dad is a minister explains a lot.
Seconded.
-
Shit - really? In real life I'm not a typical bad preacher's kid, honest! Do I come across like that here? Man, I need to re-evaluate my posting.
-
TheInevitable, Religious girls are Easy. Trust Me.
-
This year I got my dad a vacuum for his pool table. It always seems weird to give somebody an appliance as a gift, even when it's what they want.
I keep my Amazon wish list updated. I always remove stuff that I've acquired elsewhere within a day and am always addding stuff. But my SO refuses to buy from it since she feels like gifts must be surprises and thought of by her. My mom's the same way. She always get me at least one thing I didn't ask for, with varying degrees of success.
-
Well yeah, Inevitable, got me there. Though it's my sister who's carrying the religious torch around here, and nobody's managed to penetrate her 50-foot-high wall of purity yet. She finally started drinking last year, though, so there's hope yet.
-
so, now you just have to get her drunk and knocked up, right?
would you win the game, then?
-
Embarrassingly, this year I will be giving my dad a gift basket of things I meant to give him for previous holidays, forgot about, and then found in my room while cleaning it out, the main features of which are a vintage peace-sign string tie and a book about the Civil War in cinema. He will be thrilled.
Strangely, in my family it's Mom who's more or less impossible to buy for. She never wants anything, and on those freak occasions when she does, it's always something so lame and utilitarian that you feel ashamed to buy it for her even when it was a request. (My dad got her a pair of diamond earrings last Christmas because he couldn't deal with the pitifulness of her actual request, which was -- I kid you not -- an electric flosser.) Dad, at least, always likes DVDs and weird snack foods, so he's relatively easy.
-
Embarrassingly, this year I will be giving my dad a gift basket of things I meant to give him for previous holidays, forgot about, and then found in my room while cleaning it out, the main features of which are a vintage peace-sign string tie and a book about the Civil War in cinema. He will be thrilled.
Strangely, in my family it's Mom who's more or less impossible to buy for. She never wants anything, and on those freak occasions when she does, it's always something so lame and utilitarian that you feel ashamed to buy it for her even when it was a request. (My dad got her a pair of diamond earrings last Christmas because he couldn't deal with the pitifulness of her actual request, which was -- I kid you not -- an electric flosser.) Dad, at least, always likes DVDs and weird snack foods, so he's relatively easy.
My mother is the same way. After a long period of extreme negligence following being voted Best Dressed in High School, though, she is now slightly more interested in dressing well and not looking frumpy. There may yet be hope for gift-giving.
I went to a local used book store today and, whilst browsing the Reference shelves, came across the perfect pair of books to give my dad for Father's Day: The Superior Person's Book of Words and The Superior Person's Second Book of Weird & Wondrous Words. They were cheap and in very good condition, and therefore ideal.
-
oh man, so you get it from your dad?
that's the tops.
(notice that you used to word Frumpy quite well in the post, as well. you done your papa proud)
I will be giving my father a dvd of The West Wing, so he can go watch it when my brother and sister are driving him insane next year. (she is becoming even more problems as she becomes a teen. and my brother just never tells my parents anything. "you've been dating a girl for 6 months! What?")
-
For Father's Day, I'll finally let my dad know that disclosing my homosexuality was just an April Fools gag. It's been a difficult 3 months of wearing nothing but capris.
-
Lottery tickets.
I gave my dad lottery tickets and liquor.
-
One time in 8th grade a teacher was asking us what we were going to get our parents for christmas. I said a carton of Marlboro Reds and was promptly sent to the hall.
fuck*ng bitch teacher, that is what I got him.
-
Well, it turns out I kick ass, basically.
I went to a auto collector's memoribilia store - "Mike's General Store." The store is closed, with a sign saying they'll re-open in 20 minutes. I kick around outside, and there is a beautiful '67 Mustang out front, fully restored, with a sign in the back saying it's for sale to call "Mike." This is basically my dream car, so I stand there oggling it, day dreaming about owning it, until the store sign is flipped to "Open."
Inside I found a nifty ad out of a 1964 life magazine of a Mustang convertible (which I later framed nicely for dad). When he saw it, the counter guy and I began talking about Mustangs, how he has just sold the one outside (heart break) and my life-long dream of owing a 60's 'Stang - a desire which I inherited from my dad and his love of American cars - most specifically Mustangs. We talk about all the cars my dad has restored over the years. Turns out the counter guy was "Mike" and that he had been out to look at a '67 Mustang for sale for restoration outside the city the day before, but that he decided he didn't have any energy to do another restoration, so he didn't buy the car. I told Mike how my dad has a '64 fender that he has taken with him through 3 different house moves, with the dream of finally restoring the ultimate Mustang.
I leave, and my car (which is a horrible lemon) starts to overhead, smoke billows from the engine, it makes horrible noises when I try to accelerate. But I needed to get home and leave town for two days, so I parked my car, did what needed to be done, and then we took the SO's truck out of town to return on Sunday.
The weekend is wonderful but exhausting, we go giraffeing and get totally drenched in the boat in a rain storm. My SO's buddy who he hasn't seen for a year shows up out of the blue. They buy fireworks, much fun is had.
We get back into town, and I remember my car and it's horrible problems, but have basically forgotten about Mike and the Mustang for sale. We are totally exhausted, and we grab my dad's gifts and head to their place.
As Dad's unwrapping his framed mustang ad, I remember all the details of my conversation with Mike. I tell him, and he gets more and more excited. Seems he's looking for a car to restore, and I'm looking for a car that doesn't over heat.
-
I guess the filling in the blanks part is that your dad intends to restore the car for you to drive?
But doesn't car restoration take, like, a long time?
What will you drive in the meantime?
-
I will continue to drive my current, crap, overheating, '92 Mustang.
But I basically don't need a car since I'm off all summer, and want to walk as much as possible before my joints turn to dust.
-
the mustang is basically the most beautiful car of all time. i know nothing of cars, and I am not one of those men who is into them.
but I drool, every single time I see them. The old 60's ones are gorgeous, especially.
-
BRINGING THE THREAD BACK FROM THE DEAD.
When I was at Bonnaroo, during Father's Day, my associates and I were walking down one of the various Shakedown Streets and wandered by some sort of glassware emporium. And the barker standing in front said this:
"FORGET THE TIE! FORGET THE CARD! GET YOUR DAD WHAT HE REALLY WANTS THIS FATHER'S DAY! PIPES START AT $5, BUBBLERS AND BONGS AT $25!"