Strange request - need a gift idea

I have a client that will be coming in to our office for a meeting next week, and he always brings us gifts of wine around the holidays. This will be my first time meeting with him, and he seems really nice. I want to get him a gift too.

In my last conversation with him he mentioned that he has lost his sense of taste and smell. All of my go-to gift ideas revolve around food or beverages, so I am at a loss here for a gift idea. I don't know much about his likes/dislikes or tastes. No idea if he is into cars or car related stuff. I would like to keep the cost to $25 - $30. Looking to pick something up this weekend, any ideas from the hive?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Have you tried social-media-stalking him to find his interests?

Subscription to Playboy.

In from way out of town? Then you might have some fun stuff that is local.

Anything that is 'safe' is also generic and worth less than the 25-30 bucks you bought it for. Don't be afraid to go out on a limb and show your own personality.

What do you have on your desk right now that you like? Why do you like it? Would something similar make a good gift for someone else's desk? Have a book you recently read and really liked?

Small model car (it will remind him that you are into cars, even if he isn't)? Duck call if you are a hunter? Golf balls from a local course can be nice and are generally a safe bet, may even lead to a round with said person at the course in the future. Bottle of spirits/cigars can be nice but runs slightly larger risk of weirdness.

Good ideas. I don't have access to the book of faces, but his linkedin profile shows that for the last 5 years he has collected oral military interviews for the state archives, and he volunteers in a seminar program for teachers at the local university called "Adventures In Ideas". Before that he worked as a sales rep for 40 years with IBM.

No idea if he golfs, and I had considered spirits, but he mentioned that he used to drink wine when he still has a sense of taste and smell, but now he just buys wine as gifts for others as he does not drink any more. I don't have anything interesting on my desk except a 2015 GRM calendar, and that's almost out of date!

EastCoastMojo wrote: Before that he worked as a sales rep for 40 years with IBM.

He golfs.

Can't tell you if he enjoys it or is any good or not, but I am 99% sure he golfs based on the above statement.

I think his chances of being into golf are pretty high as well, but I wouldn't assume yet.

LOL, good to know. Perhaps some shiny new balls are in his future.

This is not as much an answer but rather intended to encourage thought...

He has lost sense of taste and smell.
That leaves: Sight, Hearing, Touch
What can you buy that might appeal to those remaining senses?

I too agree that he has played a fair amount of golf in his lifetime.

Miata? That's out of budget though

Everybody loves Lego.

Oral military history. See if there isn't a history book from his home town, i.e. Chicago or, say South Carolina, etc..Or any completion of accounts presented by the veterans themselves. If he travels, perhaps the same subject on audio book.

What is your job?

Good idea on the history book. I don't have his home town in our records, but I know he went to college locally, so he is probably an NC native.

I am an assistant for a financial representative, working toward becoming a financial rep myself.

Ahh. Was hoping it was still a bike shop or something similar that would give you a hint as to what he likes. I guess that money isn't really the best answer.

A hooker paid for by someone else is a nice gift, and in your price range his inability to smell is a blessing.

Yeah, no more bike shop for me.
Angry, your comment just made me laugh out loud. Good thing there's not too many reps in the office this afternoon.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

That's the most productive thing I've done all day. I never should have gotten a smartphone...

In reply to NordicSaab:

Not worth it after this month

A fossil? Fossils are cool

A gift certificate or card to somewhere along US 129. Even if he's not a car guy the area is a relaxing location for a weekend retreat and the smokies are full of Civil War history, see college mascots of Tarheel and Volunteers. See if there's a driving civil war trail or such through the area with stops of note. Or see if there's a book regarding the origins of the term Tarheels and the story of it's roots.

Bicycle helmet? I mean, he's got cranial nerve damage....

The US Army Guide to Oral History is lengthy and a PDF, perhaps you can find something on a disc that he can pop into the dash on a long salesman trip. Barnes & Noble?

http://www.history.army.mil/books/oral.html

Adventures in Ideas is a UNC weekend program, perhaps a history book on UNC?

http://humanities.unc.edu/programs/adventures-in-ideas/

Good luck and Merry Christmas.

Dan

AngryCorvair wrote: A hooker paid for by someone else is a nice gift, and in your price range his inability to smell is a blessing.

That deserves more than the 1 upvote I can give it.

A nice pen? Possibly monogrammed or made from an interesting material. You can never underestimate the value of a good pen, and its something he'd keep with him.