Gifts for the Hard-to-Please

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Speaker 13 From the New York Times, you're listening to The Wirecutter Show.

Speaker 13 Hey, everyone, it's The Wirecutter Show. I'm Kyra Blackwell.
I'm Christine Sear-Clissette. And I'm Rosie Guerin, and we work at Wirecutter, the product recommendation site from the New York Times.

Speaker 13 Each week, we bring you expert advice from our newsroom of 140 journalists who review everyday products that will make your life better.

Speaker 13 This episode of The Wirecutter Cutter Show is called Gifts for the Hard to Please.

Speaker 13 Christine, do you think you're a hard person to shop for? Oh, I am totally a hard person to shop for. I'm a terrible person to shop for.
I have so many strong opinions.

Speaker 13 I honestly get enraged when I get a gift that I don't like.

Speaker 13 That's funny. That's really funny.
I actually have a reputation at work for throwing away things that I don't like.

Speaker 13 Well, then this episode is for anyone who's who's ever had to buy Christine's Search Closet. Absolutely.
I feel sorry for my kids when they're adults and I'm going to be like that person.

Speaker 13 They tell stories. They're going to call into this podcast.
They're going to be like people calling into this podcast.

Speaker 13 Well, I ask this because if you've been into a CBS lately, you know we're coming up on the holiday season and it's time to think about ideally good gifts.

Speaker 13 So last week we talked with Hannah Morrill, our gift editor here at Wirecutter, about some general rules to follow for gifting, particularly for affordable gifts. This week, we're going more advanced.

Speaker 13 We're tackling gifts for the impossible to buy for people in your life. People like, gosh, I don't know, Christine, who have everything they want.
The bar is really high.

Speaker 13 You got to knock it out of the park. Yeah.
I mean, for me, it's like, if I have all the stuff I want, I need to be delighted by the, by the things that people are going to give me.

Speaker 13 I know that's like a very privileged place to sit. The bar could never get any higher than that, though.
That's the, that's the hard part.

Speaker 13 There's so much pressure and you don't know what the rules are. And like, I don't know.

Speaker 13 I don't know about you, Christine, but I feel like if you get one good gift one year, you have to continue topping it for the rest of your life. Up and up and up and up.

Speaker 13 So today we'll build on the rules we talked about last week, the rules of thumb. And we'll talk about finding good gifts for these impossible to buy for people in our lives.

Speaker 13 The classic lineup, grandparents, dads, Christine, picky siblings, spouses, Christine, friends who have everything, Christine, et cetera. Did you mention me?

Speaker 13 Sorry, it's in my script here. Christine.

Speaker 13 And because we didn't want to just sit in the studio and toss them around to each other, we're not the experts on this subject. We did decide to open up the discussion to our listeners.
That's right.

Speaker 13 I mean, we aren't the experts, but we do have strong opinions. Oh, I do.
I have strong opinions. Always.

Speaker 13 We asked listeners of the Wire Cutter Show to send us stories about the trickiest people in their lives, the people who are hardest to shop for.

Speaker 13 To field those questions, we've brought in a special guest, Samantha Shea. She's not only a writer on Wirecutter's gift team, she's a fiction writer, a parent, and an incredibly thoughtful gift giver.

Speaker 13 And a lovely human and likes to receive really lovely and delightful gifts. So is also thinking about giving lovely and delightful gifts.
That's right.

Speaker 13 And I would trust anything that Samantha recommends. Honestly, she's got great taste.
After the break, Sam will tackle your toughest gift questions. We're going to see if we can stump her.

Speaker 13 I would love to stump her, honestly. Not that that's her job, but...
But it's like a good goal. Yeah.
We're working towards a goal in this episode. Yeah.

Speaker 13 This is the Wirecutter Show, and we will be right back.

Speaker 1 The Wirecutter Show is supported by Rocket Mortgage.

Speaker 3 Your home is an active investment, not a passive one.

Speaker 5 And with Rocket Mortgage, you can put your home equity to work right away. When you unlock your home equity, you unlock new doors for your family.

Speaker 7 Renovations, extensions, even buying your next property.

Speaker 10 Get started today with smarter tools and guidance from real mortgage experts.

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Speaker 2 Wayfair loves fall.

Speaker 16 The crisp air, the cool nights, and of course, the seasonal lattes.

Speaker 16 And as your trusted destination for all things home, Wayfair's got everything you you need to cosify your space, from comfy recliners to warm bedding and autumn decor.

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Speaker 16 That's w-ay-y-f-a-ir-r.com. Wayfair, every style, every home.

Speaker 13 Welcome back to the Wire Cutter Show. Our guest today is Samantha Shea.

Speaker 13 Samantha is a staff writer on our gift team, and she's written about some esoteric gift topics, like gifts for travelers, coffee lovers, pickleball players, co-workers, engagement gifts, and gifts for people who love to clean.

Speaker 13 Who is that? I want to know. I don't know.
My mom?

Speaker 13 Yeah, Sam also spends almost every day of the year researching and on the hunt for gifts. So, this is her whole bread and butter.
Welcome, Sam. Thank you so much.
I'm excited.

Speaker 13 Sam, first of all, it is so cool that your whole job is just gifting.

Speaker 13 Over the last few weeks, we've put out a call to our listeners of the Wirecutter Show, basically just asking for stories about the people in their lives who are impossible to buy gifts for.

Speaker 13 And we knew that we were already going to redirect these questions to you because this is not our wheelhouse. It's yours.
So you're really good at gifts. We want to get into it.
Great. I'm ready.

Speaker 13 All right. Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, we got a huge number of calls.
People need your help, Sam. So I think we should jump right in.
Here is our first call. You ready?

Speaker 13 Hello, Wirecutter.

Speaker 17 So my spouse is a very good gift giver. She always gets me thoughtful and surprising presents, and she has really good taste.
And I really struggle to reach a bar set that high. I'm pretty forgetful.

Speaker 17 So I've tried keeping lists for when she mentions stuff throughout the year, but it's all just so utilitarian.

Speaker 17 I know she loves big gestures like a surprise trip or something handmade, but this year, money and time are both very tight.

Speaker 17 So I'm wondering if you have any ideas to help think about this better or just suggestions for good gifts.

Speaker 13 Thank you. Oh man, I think this is a really good place to start.
So clearly this, this person, he has a spouse who is great at gifting and he's trying to raise the bar on his own gifting.

Speaker 13 Sam, how would you guide him thinking through what to get his wife? So first of all, a lot of people are in this situation where they feel like their partner is really good and they struggle.

Speaker 13 And a lot of people really, truly struggle with gift giving. It causes them anxiety.
It makes them feel all sorts of ways about themselves that they don't want to feel. It brings up money.

Speaker 13 It's like, you know, it can be an emotional thing. But for this listener, he mentions that she brings up utilitarian stuff.

Speaker 13 I think that's a good place to start, actually, because it lets us know that she likes stuff that has some sort of use.

Speaker 13 So I would think about for her like really nice upgrades to stuff that you already use or know she needs, like aesthetic or luxury upgrades to a coffee pot.

Speaker 13 We have these regular old French presses on the site. And then we have like these beautiful aesthetic brushed stainless steel French presses, if that's our thing.

Speaker 13 Or we have a new guide on robes that's about to come out. And I happen to be testing the linen robe on that list and it's so nice.
I love it so much. What's the brand? Rough linen.
Oh, okay. Yeah.

Speaker 13 I love them. Which is, we, I love them too.
And they're, they're a new pick for us. So So like, you know, those are utilitarian, but they can also be luxury.

Speaker 13 A beautiful new kitchen knife, like, but a really nice one. Anything like that that's, that has a use, but also has an aesthetic value or sort of a luxury feel.
So that's a place to start.

Speaker 13 And then also when he talks about personalized, like we have an entire gift guide of personalized gifts.

Speaker 13 So if he's thinking about that literally, personalized stuff is both a gift and a gesture that says like, I thought ahead and I thought of you and and I had this made for you.

Speaker 13 So there's all sorts of great stuff. There's like a handwriting cuff bracelet where you can write something and then it's engraved on the bracelet in your handwriting.

Speaker 13 And you can also do it with somebody like say who's past. Like you could do a parent or a grandparent.
There's also this great retro viewfinder.

Speaker 13 You hold it to your eyes and you click through like the viewmaster for those of you who are old enough to remember that. But you can get personalized ones.

Speaker 13 So you create a reel of photos and they click through and it's like an old-fashioned viewfinder slideshow, but it's photos that you've put together. And it is sweet.

Speaker 13 I actually have one because I tested it and it's sitting like on a stack of books in my living room. Every single person who comes over to my house picks that thing up and looks at it.

Speaker 13 Oh, that's so fun. Yeah.
If you're really going personalized, I love that category of gift and I think we have a lot of good ideas on the site.

Speaker 13 When I hear personalized, I automatically assume it's going to cost more because it's a very specific thing. But can you find personalized gifts that are still well within budget? Absolutely.
50,

Speaker 13 under 100, maybe. Absolutely.
Oh, yeah. Everything I just named is under 100 and in some cases, under 50.
Lovely.

Speaker 13 If we, I mean, we have a straw, like a drinking straw that you can get someone's name spelled out in that's under 20. So, yeah.

Speaker 13 Sam, for your suggestion on utilitarian gifts, I'm wondering if there's anything to keep in mind giving a spouse who might be the one who is doing the cooking, the one who is doing the cleaning, giving them the utilitarian gift.

Speaker 13 Is there anything worth avoiding there or sort of swinging in the other direction so that you're not sending the message of like, Go make me breakfast? Yeah, I bought you a knife. Right.

Speaker 13 You can chop the garlic for my meal tonight. Okay, 100%.
I mean, we all know the cliche of like the 1950s husband giving his wife a vacuum cleaner for Christmas, right? Like, don't do that.

Speaker 13 Do not give anyone a vacuum cleaner. I forgot to mention that rule.

Speaker 13 You don't want to give someone anything that's chore-related. You want to give something that's joy-related.

Speaker 13 So, when I say utilitarian, like I mentioned, a coffee, like if they're into coffee, give them that. If they're not, don't.

Speaker 13 You know, if they really like to cook and appreciate really nice utensils and tools, then give them an excellent knife. If cooking is a chore, don't do that.

Speaker 13 So, you have to definitely be aware of that. You just, you have to know your, your recipient.
I think about this with little kids' gifts because I'm right in that pocket right now.

Speaker 13 And I genuinely think very rigorously about whether I'm giving the parents work where I'm like, okay, you know, do I get them this kinetic sand kit? Their kid is going to have a lot of fun with it.

Speaker 13 It's going to press and keep together, right? It couldn't possibly be actual sand that goes everywhere around their house and then they're going to have to vacuum it. And then never.

Speaker 13 the answer is always no for me.

Speaker 13 All right, let's roll into another listener question. I'm Wirecutter.
My name is Kelly and I'm calling from Philadelphia. The person who I'm struggling to get a gift for is my best friend.

Speaker 13 She lives in a tiny studio apartment and doesn't have a ton of room for more stuff. You might say buy her an experience, but the ones that I can find are too expensive.

Speaker 13 Or you might say get her a gift card, card, which is not a bad idea, but I'm looking for something more creative.

Speaker 13 So she likes coffee, vintage flashwork, and the outdoors, and dislikes bright and pastel colors, Taylor Swift, and cluttered Newport's face. Can you help me out with this one? Thank you.

Speaker 13 I really like that she put in that detail about how her friend does not like Taylor Swift. But this is a great question.
And I think it's probably one that's relevant for a lot of people.

Speaker 13 The desire to get somebody something that, you know, you care about, you want it to be a great gift, but not wanting to to spend a lot of money and not wanting to get them something that will clutter their space

Speaker 13 Sam what is your advice for Kelly so experiential gifts are a little bit hard for us to land on at Wirecutter because we're a national publication so we can't send someone to a specific spa or restaurant or hiking trail or anything like that but there are ideas of how to create your own that would work anywhere and I just got this great idea from a Wirecutter reader.

Speaker 13 Money is the main concern when it comes for her, this woman that I was talking to when it comes to gift buying. For a lot of people.
Yeah, exactly. For most people.
It's a huge part of the equation.

Speaker 13 But like Kelly, she wanted to do something really meaningful for her friends. So

Speaker 13 she got a tea subscription service for both of them. And then when the teas would arrive, they would do like a Zoom call or a Google meet and taste the tea together.

Speaker 13 But it was really an excuse to get together once a month and connect because they didn't live in the same place. And I was like, oh, that's kind of genius.
I love that idea.

Speaker 13 So you could do that around anything that you have in common. It could be tea, it could be books, it could be chocolate.
So I like the idea of a subscription for that that you can share.

Speaker 13 And that can get expensive, but you could also put it together yourself if a subscription service was too expensive. And some subscription services, they will allow you to buy a one-off box, right?

Speaker 13 Absolutely. So you could just do it one time if you don't want to have an ongoing cost every month, right? Yeah, exactly.
I mean, they sell in brick and mortar and online tea sampler sets.

Speaker 13 So you could just do it that way if tea is the thing.

Speaker 13 But I think the idea of combining something that is an experience, not a material good, and an excuse to connect with someone who lives far away is a really great idea. I love that.

Speaker 13 I might be scaling that. Yeah, me too.
One of my favorite wire cutter recommendations for a food basket is the Baksu Japanese snacks. I love that.
Me too. And I send those to my nieces and nephews.

Speaker 13 So maybe I'll do that with my kids too, and they can all

Speaker 13 have snacks. Okay.
No, no. That's such a good idea.
What are some other ideas that you have for Kelly?

Speaker 13 So another thing that comes to mind right off the bat is consumables, not only like a one-off edible of food, but something like a book that, you know, that you have picked out that has some personal relevance.

Speaker 13 And you could be like my aunt Cynthia, who will not give a book without inscribing it. It's kind of old-fashioned, but I love it so much.
And I have books throughout my life inscribed from my aunt.

Speaker 13 So, or even like nice skincare, you know, something that is nice, but she will use it up and it's not going to clutter her house.

Speaker 13 I like that.

Speaker 13 Sam, dads? Can we talk about dads? Let's talk about dads. Dads can be difficult to shop for.
Either they have everything, they want nothing. I'm, I guess, speaking about my dad.

Speaker 13 And mine. Oh, and your dad, yeah.
What is a good, safe gift for a dad?

Speaker 13 Okay.

Speaker 13 First of all, I know we want to, but we can't actually talk about dads as a single category.

Speaker 13 Because, for example, my dad is a nearly 82-year-old guy who lives in rural Vermont. But my kid's dad is a 52-year-old guy who lives in the city.
So, you know, dads

Speaker 13 are not a monolith. You know, we joke all the time about like barbecue stuff and whiskey stones.
Like, that is such the easy way out. Or a toolbox.
Yeah.

Speaker 13 My dad would not want. any of those things.
Neither would mine. My dad wouldn't know a whiskey stone.
Like, and my dad likes whiskey, but no. My go-to for my dad is books and booze.

Speaker 13 So he likes to read, he likes to drink. That's what I get him.
But I think the sweet spot is to kind of straddle something that he already loves, but needs an upgrade on.

Speaker 13 I was just visiting my dad last weekend in Vermont and his tattered old ratty slippers are truly pathetic.

Speaker 13 So I could get him an upgrade of something he already has. Same with like flannel shirts.
He's a Vermonter. He wears a lot of flannel shirts.
They're tattered and faded.

Speaker 13 And I could get him an upgrade. So it's not like reinventing the the wheel.

Speaker 13 It's kind of just paying attention to stuff that you know they use, you know they like, and they're just really bad at buying themselves new versions or upgrading their tattered old stuff.

Speaker 13 That rings very true to me. I know some men and dads who are happy to buy themselves things that they want, but I know a lot of them that just like that.

Speaker 13 They'll wear like the shirt until there's holes in it or the slippers until there's a hole in the toe or whatever. So I think I might steal that idea.

Speaker 13 But I feel like, not to make this all about me and put you in the hot seat, but my dad is the kind of person who likes nice things and will constantly be upgrading this stuff when it's like out of use.

Speaker 13 So I find that it's really hard to get him anything tangible. We have to go for experiences and I've run out of ideas.

Speaker 13 I think people who like nice things are actually the easiest people to buy for because you can get them beautiful things. And that's my way.
I like. beautiful thing.
I don't like clutter.

Speaker 13 I don't like junk, but I really like beautiful designy things. I think that's my gift to my family is that I'm just give me something beautiful and expensive.

Speaker 13 You know, I'm so easy. Right.
Well, what does your dad like? Oh, man.

Speaker 13 Yeah, he just likes fancy stuff. Get him a really nice Yeti cooler.
Okay. I could do that.
Yeah. They're super nice.
They're useful. They're expensive.

Speaker 13 It's got the branding on the side and tells everyone it's nice and fancy. And it truly is.
And he doesn't have that, actually. Okay.

Speaker 13 Get him a Yeti cooler. Okay.
Okay. Thank you.

Speaker 13 Sure. I am a wizard.

Speaker 13 Okay, we're going to take a quick break.

Speaker 13 And then when we're back, we're going to talk about the etiquette around returning bad gifts, strategies for regifting, plus ideas for older relatives and more listener questions. Be right back.

Speaker 1 The Wirecutter Show is supported by Rocket Mortgage.

Speaker 3 Your home is an active investment, not a passive one.

Speaker 5 And with Rocket Mortgage, you can put your home equity to work right away. When you unlock your home equity, you unlock new doors for your family.

Speaker 7 Renovations, extensions, even buying your next property.

Speaker 10 Get started today with smarter tools and guidance from real mortgage experts.

Speaker 2 Find out how at rocketmortgage.com.

Speaker 12 Rocket Mortgage LLC, licensed in 50 states, nmlsconsumeraccess.org, 3030.

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Speaker 16 And as your trusted destination for all things home, Wayfair's got everything you need to cosify your space, from comfy recliners to warm bedding and autumn decor.

Speaker 16 Wayfair even has espresso makers, so you can make that latte at home. You know the one.
Head to Wayfair.com today to shop curated collections of easy, affordable fall updates.

Speaker 16 That's w-ay-y-f-a-i-r.com. Wayfair, every style, every home.

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Speaker 13 Welcome back to the Wire Cutter Show. This episode is all about gifting and finding gifts for those hard-to-please people in our lives.

Speaker 13 Our guest today is one of our wirecutter gift writers, Samantha Shea.

Speaker 13 Sam, before we jump back into listener questions, I have a few questions that are going to zoom out a little bit about the general rules of gifting.

Speaker 13 And I want to see if you actually subscribe to these or not. Okay.
Lightning round. It's kind of a lightning round.
Yeah. Definitely don't overthink it.
Just give me your first gut reaction.

Speaker 13 Is cold hard cash the king of gifts? For anyone under 20? Yes. Under 20? Sorry.
You've aged out.

Speaker 13 But like, will a one-year-old won't appreciate a box of money? No, no, a one-year-old won't.

Speaker 13 Well, for anyone

Speaker 13 over

Speaker 13 11 and under 20, if they're older than 20, you have to be really thrown down. And then we're in a whole lot of minutes of a lot of money.
All right. Next question.
When is it appropriate to re-gift?

Speaker 13 Always. Always.
What? Yeah. Okay.
I mean, you have to be careful. Don't regift it in your circle.
You know, here. Actually, take this back.
Yeah, no. That's inappropriate.
But hey, reuse, recycle.

Speaker 13 Like, it's better than something going to waste.

Speaker 13 Yeah. Okay.
I like that. Okay.
Yay or nay on returning gifts that you hate. Oh, I'm a yay on that.
Okay. But I know there's an emotional component.

Speaker 13 And if it pains you, like if you feel like it's an affront to the person who gave it to you, you know, you do you. I'm not, I don't want anyone to feel terrible.

Speaker 13 And I know some people really do, even if they don't like it or it doesn't fit. They don't want to return it.
But generally, yes. Are you pro including a gift receipt? Yes.
Okay.

Speaker 13 I don't want to give anyone anything they don't want or is useless to them. So yeah, I'm pro gift receipt.
I want someone to return something if they don't like it. Great.
All right.

Speaker 13 So if someone gives you a gift, do you have to give them a gift in return?

Speaker 13 No.

Speaker 13 You don't. I mean, sometimes you're caught by surprise and you can't and it's awkward.
I mean, this is. Rosie loves to hear it.
She's cheering right now. Rosie doesn't like to give gifts.

Speaker 13 I don't like to give gifts if I don't want to give a gift. Like the whole idea is thought.

Speaker 13 And if I haven't prepared with, you know, love and thoughtfulness in my heart, then why am I getting you a gift? So basically, I'm getting you. I don't Christmas candles.
Well, I mean, happy holidays.

Speaker 13 I mean, okay, that is the best of how we hope to operate. But there's a lot of obligatory gift giving in our lives.

Speaker 13 It just is, you know, so office parties, white elephant, that kind of thing, like you don't have to put your heart and soul into that.

Speaker 13 But in terms of giving a gift because you've been given one, only if you know it's coming. But we're sometimes we're blindsided by gifts.

Speaker 13 And then you just be your most gracious self and thank the person. That's really all you can do.
You can't like rummage around in your bag like, oh, here's the olive oil I always have on hand.

Speaker 13 All right, Sam, we have another listener question. Are you ready? I am.

Speaker 13 Hello, my name is Alex and I'm calling from San Diego, California. And I myself am an impossible to shop for gift recipient.

Speaker 13 As a professional in the environmental space, more is not necessarily better.

Speaker 13 And then what I do want are usually things that are pretty big and significant that require a lot of personal research, like a new bicycle.

Speaker 13 So not quite sure what can be done for me, but big sorry to all of my loved ones who try very hard and are met with me.

Speaker 13 Okay, so I'm wondering if you have people in your life like this and what you recommend. Yes, I do have people in my life like this.

Speaker 13 I mean, this is a place where you steer away from stuff unless it's a consumable. And

Speaker 13 this is another great place for experiential gifts. I have a really good childhood friend who's an organic farmer and

Speaker 13 she saves her own seeds. Like there's nothing I can get her that's organic farmy

Speaker 13 because she knows so much more than I do. But I can get her a book.
Like a book is never clutter. Olive oil is never clutter.
This is also a really good place for digital gifts.

Speaker 13 So masterclass is, you know, you can get them, buy them a class on something. We have painting classes online.

Speaker 13 You can buy them a subscription to like Libro FM, or if they're into audiobooks, you can buy them Met Opera subscriptions so they can watch opera on their television.

Speaker 13 Or there's all sorts of cool streaming subscriptions like for, you know, British TV or for indie movies.

Speaker 13 It's a good place to think about that, like something that is either entertaining or life-enhancing in some way. You're learning something new, but isn't a thing thing.

Speaker 13 I like that. Yeah.
Let's play another listener question. This one is from Alyssa, who's trying to find something thoughtful for her brother.
Hi, Wirecutter.

Speaker 13 This is Alyssa from Minneapolis, and I need your help. I cannot figure out what to buy my brother ever.
He's a computer programming nerd, but also snarky and sarcastic. So he's not a total introvert.

Speaker 13 He loves new tech, but he always can either build it or buy it himself. He loves smart home tech, but he already has everything set up the way he likes it.

Speaker 13 He also has a really fancy bidet in his bathroom. He enjoys running, but he has all of the tools already to track his speed, distance, and heart rate.

Speaker 13 He dresses very simply. So a lot of black, no patterns, always buys the same pair of black sneakers because he likes them and he knows what he likes.
He lives in a studio condo.

Speaker 13 So he's very simple, does not have room for a bunch of stuff.

Speaker 13 He loves to grill and drink beer. I was very proud of myself.
I bought him a cooler one year, and it was a good cooler, and that was a good one. But I just don't know what to buy him.

Speaker 13 he's not a materialistic person and i also want it to be

Speaker 13 meaningful in the sense that it's well thought out for what he likes to do and what's important to him thank you i really hope you can help me i love your show it's awesome i've really enjoyed listening to it and have told a lot of people about it so Thanks so much.

Speaker 13 First of all, thanks, Alyssa. Yeah.
Thanks for the love, Alyssa. Thank you.
So sweet. And now that we know Alyssa's brother doesn't need a bidet, which that narrows it down.

Speaker 13 No, I've got you, Alyssa. I do.
So I would think again about upgrades of the stuff that you know he likes. Does he listen to anything while he runs? You could get him an audiobook subscription.

Speaker 13 If he does, he probably already has the earbuds or headphones that he likes. So you want to stay away from the techie stuff, but you can think about...

Speaker 13 offering him more stuff to listen to, for example. Okay, so he likes to grill.

Speaker 13 We have what I think is very funny and very hilarious, which is a personalized steak brand for grilling in our personalized gifts.

Speaker 13 It's like, it's an actual, it's like forged in Texas by the people who make brands for cattle, but it's mini, so you can stamp your burgers. It's funny and it's, it's a good quality thing.

Speaker 13 And, you know, it's, I know it's kind of a novelty and I know he doesn't want a lot of stuff, but this is something that would like hang with the grill tools that he's already has and is using.

Speaker 13 Or like for beer, we have this great growler.

Speaker 13 I don't know if he goes to like a brew pub and buys beer, but if he is that kind of beer drinker, this insulated growler that we have, Wirecutter is recommended for a really long time because it's super tough.

Speaker 13 You could take it camping and drop it down a path and it would be fine. You know, we also have home brewing kits.

Speaker 13 It could verge on the chore gift, but if you know it's something that he's interested in, that could be a great gift for a beer lover.

Speaker 13 I also am getting this vibe from the description of your brother that he might like a happy-tuned print, which is like a caricature of him or him and a pet or whatever, done in his favorite adult cartoon.

Speaker 13 So, like, Bob's Burgers are done in the style of Simpsons.

Speaker 13 I don't know. Just the nerdy tech person, it's somehow, but that's really popular gift.

Speaker 13 Okay, so this is a question that we got from Kuwadi in Chapel Hill asking specifically about finding gifts for their elderly relatives.

Speaker 13 Dear wirecutter, my gift-giving challenge is buying gifts for elderly relatives. These are people that I don't know very well, and I see them only once a year.
These people have houses full of stuff.

Speaker 13 The last thing that I want to do is to add to the clutter. I have tried to find things that they can use or consume.
However, with food items, many of them have dietary restrictions.

Speaker 13 I am running out of ideas. Please suggest some good alternatives.
Thank you. Wow.
Okay, Congratulations. You have the hardest gift giving.

Speaker 13 It can't exist, can't be consuming.

Speaker 13 Right. There's a lot of barriers here.
I, okay.

Speaker 13 Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you getting these people gifts is one of the, is my first question. This, to me, if she sees them once a year, she doesn't know them very well.

Speaker 13 To me, this is not, this is somebody you. Maybe you bring them flowers

Speaker 13 and a really nice card.

Speaker 13 But if gift giving is a tradition and you have to give them a gift, the first thing that comes to mind for me is we recommend these live citrus trees from a company called Fast Growing Trees.

Speaker 13 Super popular because you can grow lemons or limes or more exotic citrus fruits inside.

Speaker 13 And it's a beautiful gift and

Speaker 13 the person might love it and keep it alive and they might not and it's not really your problem.

Speaker 13 But they're not not difficult to keep alive. I think fresh cut flowers or a potted plant, maybe they're not huge plant enthusiasts, but it's not, it's not insulting.

Speaker 13 It doesn't really meet the definition of clutter. And it's more of a gesture than a gift, which is what I think this situation calls for.

Speaker 13 Okay, Sam. So before we wrap, we usually ask our guests one final question.
What's the last thing you bought that you really loved? I bought myself a pair of gorgeous chunky loafers in Milan.

Speaker 13 And I'm in love with them. Loafers are shoes, right? Yeah.
Yeah. I'm like, this is me so uncultured.
What are they made out of?

Speaker 13 Leather with like a chunky loafers are a classic slip-on shoe, like a penny loafer. Okay, okay, okay.
Yeah. Yeah.
Nice. Nice.
So that's the last thing I bought for myself that I loved. I love that.

Speaker 13 Sam, thanks for joining us. Yeah.
Thanks for having me. It's fun.
Super fun.

Speaker 13 All right. That's it for us this week.
And hey, if you aren't following the show already, please do. We would love it.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, we are on YouTube.

Speaker 13 And that way you'll never miss an episode.

Speaker 13 If you want to find out more about Wirecutter's coverage, or if you want to check out the products Sam recommended today, go to nytimes.com/slash wirecutter or find a link in the show notes.

Speaker 13 And here's what's coming up next week on the wire cutter show.

Speaker 13 They light an identical fire in each room and after four minutes the house with natural furnishings I mean it's it's a fire for sure but it's something that's still kind of manageable and the other room with modern sort of synthetic is just completely engulfed in flames.

Speaker 13 The wire cutter show is executive produced by me, Rosie Guerin, and produced by Abigail Keel. Editing by Abigail Keel.

Speaker 13 Engineering support from Maddie Mazziello and Nick Pittman. Today's episode was mixed by Catherine Anderson.
Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Alicia BaeTube, and Diane Wong.

Speaker 13 Wire Cutter's deputy publisher and interim general manager is Cliff Levy. Ben Fruman is Wirecutter's Editor-in-Chief.
I'm Kyra Blackwell. I'm Christine Sear-Clissette.
And I'm Rosie Guerin.

Speaker 13 Thank you for listening.

Speaker 13 In the show notes,

Speaker 13 sinks, sinks,

Speaker 13 thank you so much. Thank you so much.

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