kaberett | help help i don't know how to world

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So I'm having my last appointment with my current counsellor (of the past... four years, wow) on the 28th of June. And my wonderful, wonderful case manager at the Disabilities Resources Centre is retiring on the 24th of June. And I want to get them both goodbye presents! But I have no idea what! And I am currently in too-many-choices overload. Suggestions? I mean, I think probably not booze because WHAT IF THEY DON'T HAVE LIVERS, but... I like my chocolate ridiculously dark and I'm ridiculously picky about it and I DO NOT EVEN KNOW how to go about buying for people. Haaaaalp.

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From:

ghoti

gift cards are always a safe bet (for a chocolate shop or bookstore or something...)

From:

lilysea

Deep breaths.

Whatever you get them, they will be touched that you thought of them. ^_^

I would go with good quality chocolate, or a beautifully presented basket of gourmet fresh fruit - passionfruit, mangoes, lychees, pineapple, rambutan, cherries - whatever is exotic and extravagant and in season. If you go this way, the key is in the presentation - making it look as beautiful as possible. ^_^

From:

pipisafoat

when time & supplies & spoons allow, I usually give people a small basket with a small bottle of dish soap, a couple handmade dishcloths, and a homemade candle (or purchased, as the case may become; i've run out of made candles & don't feel like making more any time soon).

gift cards are nice because you don't have to think quite as hard, but sometimes i get all the guilty feels about it being "the cheater way" and also that then they know exactly how much money i spent and that i put like no effort into it. (even though that's not true! it's totally valid for a gift and especially if you do like a specialty place, even if it is a coffee chain or something, if it is something you know they like, that is effort and thought. the how much money is sort of a given though. but who says that's bad, brain? well, who that speaks sense and matters? that's right. nobody.)

I also like to bake, so I often bake cookies or muffins or something, but that depends on knowing the person's dietary preferences (and especially dietary requirements). and time and supplies and (if you're me) concerns about having to be in a hot place near the oven for a length of time (especially bad in summer).

fruits basket is a nice thought! hadn't thought it before. though of course restrictions and preferences.

(full disclosure: i present people very rarely actually. and i have. like. i always give my mother a lowe's gift card unless she tells me a specific thing to get her. most of my people tell me a specific thing or get homemade food (i like to do delicious nuts because they last well) or get nothing. and for brittany, i have a list of scents she likes for soap and just pick my own shape & color basically from a vendor we both like (in a personal way and in a quality-of-soap way, respectively) and therefore like to support. i guess i mostly live in a world where people tend to tell me what they want.)

oh and that i nearly always do a present for the rehab depts at the end of my clinicals. but that usually ends up being coffee and donuts. a couple bags of cheap sugary goodness from the store and some flavored coffee, more expensive than they ever bother to buy for themselves. in a plastic container that they can repurpose easily in the clinic. i like to be very useful, and those are things that are pretty much universally useful in the rehab setting. so idk if you have thoughts about something that could be useful and hold something delicious.

LOTS OF WORDS maybe some of them help

From:

hairyears

Wot they said. Small (and therefore inexpensuve) l high-quality gift - Maison Chocolat's perfect - beautifully hand-wrapped. As in crêpe paper and a hand-tied ribbon.

Small simple card, supplied blank (no cheesy printed cards galore poem) for a short, simple, handwritten thank-you. The message is the gift and it's presentation as 'just a small thank-you'.

From:

surexit

Are they both women? If they are men then it's a little harder, sometimes.

From:

kaberett

As far as I know, yes. I guess I'm going -- flowers? ALLERGIES. Booze? DUNNO IF THEY DRINK IT. Ch-chocolate? MY TASTES ARE WEIRD.

But yes. Cards. Cards and small box of chocolates that contains ~the thought~ but won't make them feel bad about amount of money spent is probably sensible?

From:

surexit

I think all those things are fine! I dunno, I always feel like flowers and booze, even if allergies/not drunk, are such clear symbols of 'I thought about you and got you something nice'. (Speaking as a non-drinker who gets alcohol gifts sometimes.)

Buuuut yes, chocolate might be a safer bet, and you can always just go to a chocolate shop and choose something that looks nice - again, it's a clear symbol, even if you end up choosing something they don't like. And if you write a nice card you're golden whatever you give them, I think - they'll be touched no matter what it is.