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I’m looking for a birthday gift for my father, who’s turning fifty in a few days. Golden. I know that these are tough times, and that there’s always extra pressure on the men who head our families, so I would want to get more than just a “World’s Greatest Dad” souvenir or a collection of coupons for neckties. What if I get him a coffee mug? Not that he needs one. He starts every day earlier than the rest of us, pet dogs included. He gets up at half five, or six, or half six, or seven, but never later than eight in the morning. To maximize productivity, he usually skips breakfast –but not the coffee– and that’s why I wonder how, on that empty stomach, he can brave such rush hour traffic as non-New-Yorkers wouldn’t believe, and I mean really wouldn’t believe. Anyway: no, a coffee mug wouldn’t be a good idea, for he already has a natural wellspring of patience, hard work, and caffeine. Maybe a digital picture frame? I saw one online at the Philips website, offered at a very affordable price if one uses coupons. But I noticed that father kept Fujifilm pictures of me and my brothers in his wallet –as currency for memory– and even though time may crease the edges of these prints and blur its colours, he’d still hold on to them as though these were beer money. A mouse pad might do him even better. That’s a nice little aid for when he works hours at the computer, and knows more and understand better the quirks –among them, technology– that makes my generation different from his. Yes, fathers may stand as the tower of wisdom but even so, mine is very open. He listens. Well, how about a baseball cap? Something to shade him from the severe sun. After all, the climate here has been very disagreeable. Right now it’s hotter than summer, and I am surprised that the heat could be so ferocious at this time of the year. Only the calendar is proof that it’s September. Yet he toils on anyway –attending the meetings, taking the client calls, whatever else it is he does during the day– so that at the end of the day, he can go home with a promise that tomorrow, no one will go hungry. Perhaps father will appreciate a fridge magnet. From the shadows of the staircase I have watched him work on elaborate recipes like a piece of cake. He’d never utter a word whilst cooking, never sang, never whistled; he’d be lost in concentration, as if in another world, roasting, frying, steaming, dutifully tossing salt and garlic chops into a pot until without warning the telephone rings. Or sometimes it’s a neighbour looking to borrow the toolbox or ask for Sunday newspaper coupons. In any case, father taught me the value and intimacy of a home-cooked meal – sprinkled with love and served with affection. Aww. But I’ve run out of time, typing this, so I guess my birthday gift to father will be a Swiss Army Knife – purchased with coupons. One can never go wrong with that. David Stack is a web developer who offers money saving opportunities by listing promo codes and discounts. You can view his list of coupons from various stores on his site: http://www.couponsaver.org
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