He won’t take cash, that’s why. Just the kind of guy he is. He’s gonna be taking care of my cat for a week while I’m on vacation.
Thought about a couple cases of his favorite beer. Still might do that. Any other ideas?
Thought about a couple cases of his favorite beer. Still might do that. Any other ideas?
Consumables that the person already likes make great gifts, since they will get used up and not sit around.
I usually avoid abusable substances, just in case the person has a carefully balanced relationship with that substance.
But you know your friend.
Sometimes I just ask first. No real reason this needs to be a surprise.
“I know you said you won’t take cash, but I’m going to grab you two cases of X as a thank you, on my way back.”
Then they get a chance to call me off, or redirect me if it would be a problem.
And I’ll always let them call it off with even a mild “no thanks”, since they might not want to say to me “I have a real problem with X and I can’t safely have thay much on hand.”.
Well, the neighbor might not accept a gift from you…but will he accept a small token and a card from the cat?
If his personality fits that vibe, then that’s what I would do: Make a thank you card from the cat, signed and everything. Go all out with construction paper and crayons, possibly make it multiple pages if not a small pamphlet. (Cats are very thorough)
The time spent will show him your intended appreciation.
Then if you still want to get a gift to go with it (totally valid, i would!) you will want to get him some nice version of something he loves: bottle of booze, some fancy chocolates, whatever. Stalk his social media or ask his partner if he has one, to get ideas of what he’s in to.
I think this is a smashing idea. Well done!
Consumable souvenir from wherever you’re going is an obvious choice. If you’re any good at cooking/baking, something homemade is also a good choice (and much harder for him to turn down).
Cheese. everyone loves cheese
Yes Wallace
I house/petsit often and usually receive cash or beer but I would ten thousand percent accept cheese.
Framed picture of your cat
This is the answer.
Brownies and a bottle of whiskey
If people can’t, or don’t enjoy receiving money as gift, I always recommend giving people experiences.
Do something for them that they can’t, won’t, or don’t even know about doing.
Oral.
Cases of a favorite beer sounds like a good idea! My mom always urged some kind of consumable as a gift in these situations. Consider if there’s anything unique to where you’re going (e.g. if I went to Hawaii, I’d bring back a Kona blend coffee).
Cake. Beer.
I am the kind of guy who doesn’t take cash either. I do shit like that for my neighborhood to build community.
Be a good neighbor, keep your mess out of his life and reciprocate if he asks for help.
One of the best things I have learned to do as a way to influence people and make friends is making cookies.
This summer we let the neighbors park in our driveway since there is currently construction on our street. They’ve dropped off brownies, cupcakes, and a freshly rolled joint as thank you. And if you’re wondering, they were just regular brownies and cupcakes.
How was the joint?
On par with what I would roll myself.
I actually didn’t know that they smoked, or that they knew we did, so it was also a kind of wink wink message.
Brownies or cookies, homemade if you can make them otherwise splurge a little for something fancier than regular store bought.
If he’s the type of guy that doesn’t expect repayment and did it out of the kindness in his heart, you can reciprocate by doing the same. Let him know you owe him one, and make sure sure it’s received that you’re serious and not just something “you say”.
When your time comes to do something for him, do you expect payment? Or for him to grovel?
When people are difficult about accepting cash as thanks, I’m a fan of hiding some money at their place or in their stuff. Depending on the person though, they might figure it out and thus begins a pretty silly back-and-forth battle.
This sounds like a win-win
