No doubt about it – 2020 has been a crappy year. Hope I haven’t offended anyone with that blunt assessment. Even if I did, I just KNOW you have been thinking it. … Admit it!

But the year is almost over. And with the end of the year comes the festive season. And with the festive season comes that ubiquitous thing called a Gift Guide. Jam Gen would not be a full-service establishment if it didn’t also offer its version of this necessary end-of-year evil. So here goes. …

For those hard-to-please people in your life, may we suggest the following gift ideas:

1. Have friends or family who have a crick in their necks from too many Zoom calls while holding an unruly toddler or an overly-attached pet in your lap? What could be more soothing than giving your loved one a massager. Make sure it has a “stiff as a board” setting. Failing that, you’ll need the “pain in the neck” option. If you want to make it more, ahem, personal, just add some massage oil. Leftover cooking oil from all the French fries you’ve been preparing since March will do in a pinch as well.
2. Has this past calendar year given the people around you cold feet? How about some nice warm and fuzzy socks to help put some life and warmth back into those tender tootsies? Even if the socks don’t totally dispel the sick feeling in the pit of their stomach, it will help keep their feet warm during January and February – because the only place they’ll be able to socialize during the winter is outdoors. The other alternative for warming cold feet is booze, lots and lots of booze.
3. Do your friends miss eating out at their favourite restaurants? Are they tired of cooking at home? So why not purchase a gift card that entitles the bearer to a ready-made turkey dinner with all the trimmings from the local grocer or the nearest gourmet takeout eatery? We recommend the Swiss Chalet Festive Special. After all, chicken is the new turkey.
4. If you are OK with gift cards, how about one to their favourite airline company? Eventually we’ll be able to travel again, but by that time the demand will be so great that airfare will be higher than we all are from sniffing the sanitizer fumes for too long. Every penny helps, as they say! And we need some sort of illusion to hold on to during the coming winter.
5. Give the gift of an accountant! From calculating all the government support payments received (whether to a small business or personally) to figuring out the complexities of eligible expenses as a result of working from home for months, everyone needs a professional to help them claim all the deductions and minimize their taxes for the 2020 tax year. This gift may not be immediately appreciated by your family and friends at Christmas, but will they ever be grateful when tax time rolls around!
6. If you have exhausted all other options and nothing seems suitable, may we suggest booze, lots and lots of booze. See #2 for the reason. Or no reason. Completely legitimate. And it’ll help 2020 seem like just a bad dream. Bonus: no one will be drinking and then driving home afterwards!

Whatever you ultimately decide on for your loved ones, I’m sure it will be PERFECT! Happy holidays to you and your families. And may 2021 bring light and renewed hope to the world.

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