Help me be a good son!

You are in Florida now, yes? What about something related to Florida wildlife, like a book or video/dvd documentary about sharks, alligators, dolphins or manatees? Those are pretty cool. Or maybe a framed nature photo or painting that captures something about life in Florda (small, of course, you’re not going to want to carry a framed poster on a flight overseas). More easy to transport, a calendar with photos.

Sometimes museums have local themed stuff in their shops, and most will let you go right to the shop and not pay admission if you explain that you are just there to spend money in the gift shop. Anyway, you might find some quirky stuff that would pass for a good gift, like a desk clock shaped like a shark eating an alligator, or look at their web sites for ideas.

I know you don’t want to resort to clothing, but would he wear a nice piece of clothing (like a windbreaker jacket or polo shirt) with a Florida-esque logo on it, from a local university or something related to your life? My own dad is not very into clothes, but always seems to be willing to sport the logos of whatever his kids are doing, I think he likes to have visible indicators that we’re edumacated and gainfully employed. :wink:

Have a nice trip home!

I forgot to mention this earlier but my parents are planning to visit Florida soon so that kind of stuff would be a bit redundant.

Gozu, could you tell us a little more about what your dad is like? You’ve told us that he doesn’t hunt, fish, read, watch a lot of movies, or enjoy fixing things. Could you let us know what he does like to do?

I have a Leatherman Micra that I keep on my keychain. I love it, and use it at least once a week. That’s not very often, but when I need it, I’m really glad I have it with me. Every guy I’ve shown it to has drooled over it. Quite a few women have drooled over it, too.

I got my father a regular sized Leatherman tool one year, and a Dremel another year. Both times, he was delighted with the gifts. I gave each of my nephews a Leatherman multitool for their graduation, and they were quite happy.

Sigh. I can’t think of anything relevant, you see?

He likes to go to Marrakesh. He likes buying fruit at the market. He likes bbq. He likes crunchy, almost burned bread, he liked my RAZR cell last summer…

See? It’s just not useful when picking a gift. A nice cellphone would’ve been a no-brainer but newer and cheaper models can be found in Morocco…(the U.S is still behind europe when it comes to cellphones). In any case, I don’t have the money to buy him a nice cell so that’s out.

Maybe something neat for his car? He does drive a fair bit. Not a stereo or an lcd screen.

GPS??

Does he read English? How about a subscription to a cool magazine, like National Geographic.

Or if he doesn’t read English, Penthouse.

Along the lines of the Leatherman’s Tool, one of the really fine Swiss Army knives. Or a rechargeable flashlight. Or a whole slew of those disposable flashlights if your dad is like me and always losing them. A cordless drill (either rechargeable or battery) and a good set or two of screwdriver heads and drill bits? You don’t have to be especially handy for that kind of thing to be useful. If you use it even twice a year, it’s well worth it (in my experience). And Black and Decker is pretty inexpensive these days.

A really handsome pen by one of the prestige makers? A fine pipe or lighter if he’s in to that kind of vice? Lindor chocolate truffles are food of the gods, and if he barks at the price, point out quietly to him how much your mom will enjoy them as well.

Florida does dried fruit and nuts quite well, but then, I imagine so does Morocco. But you could buy one of those fruit-of-the-month or cheese-of-the-month things for a year for him - they’re pricey, but my dad got pears and they were the best pears I’ve ever had in my life!

They make some really nice BBQ utensil sets. I’ve seen some that also come with special potholder-type gloves so he doesn’t scorch the hair off his hand when he’s flipping. Those digital meat thermometers are nice, too. My dad and my husband both love theirs. A new BBQ cookbook (Bobby Flay or some other American chef would be a good choice) could round out the gift, as could a selection of different BBQ sauces.

I suspect that stuff’d spoil in its journey to Africa…

Why? How about some books to prepare him/them for the journey? Like Zagat’s, or some touristy, but not-too-touristy photobook to get him ready & interested in the trip?

You could always expand it to a set: some books on travel in Florida and a variety of books on travel elsewhere in the states. Maybe it’ll convince your folks to come over and travel some more.
Failing that… If you’ve reeeeaaalllly run out of good ideas, you could always donate in his name. Find an organization you think he would support, contact them and make his gift a gift that will help others.

Cheers (and good luck from someone who knows just how hard it is to shop for a father),
-Geek

Does he do anything for himself like massages or does he belong to a health club or anything like that?

How about a night out to a music event or a play?

Great input everybody. I believe I’ve got enough ideas to be able to pick something good.

So thank you all for your help!

Might be late, but… If your father is much like my grandfather was… Nothing made him prouder than when we found out his favorite ‘cause’ and donated money to it in his name.
The same year we ‘adopted’ a monkey from the zoo for my other grandfather. We used to say the family resemblance was too good.

But seriously, a donation to a cause your father likes is not only good deed (for the most part), but a deed well-done. Something you can both feel good about.

In the end, I got him an entry-level PDA. A palmOne Z22. I struggled with it for a while because it can be a bit complicated to use and is not ideal for many kinds of data entry (users are supposed to sync with computers to get vCards and whatnot). But I think he can use enough functions to make it worthwhile. Plus he can showoff his “tech-savviness” to coworkers and the like and possibly play some basic games on it.

If one of you reminds me in a few weeks, I’ll let you know how it went .