My bestie broke both of his arms and wrists two days ago. He’s in his 20s, a gamer, has a pregnant wife and a young kid. Any ideas for gifts I can get to cheer him up? He’ll have no use of his arms for 3 months.

Already got a bidet for him and hooked it up. Looking into accessible gaming controllers, but he said that the pain is so bad rn that even alternative controllers are probably a no go.

  • @[email protected]
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    1 month ago

    Cleaning service, any house services really, freezer meals, or other little to no prep foods, offer to play with their kid from time to time, help them relieve stress by unburdening them (by taking on chores), instead of providing an escape (video games)

    Edit: not dissing video games, but a young one and another on the way is a lot of stress already.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      721 month ago

      I hadn’t even considered cleaning services or meal kits. Those are a fantastic idea! I’ll reach out to his wife and get her input.

      • @[email protected]
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        141 month ago

        I’m constantly overwhelmed with no broken arms, and just 1 day a week for someone to come in and “reset the mess” is incredible. You should probably talk with his wife and have the “this person is giving you time to do things that prioritize your family” talk, because some people can feel cleaning service is admitting failure in keeping up their home. (Also her talking with the kid about not treating this as an excuse to be messy isn’t bad either)

    • @dohpaz42
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      1 month ago

      Every hobby can be considered an escape. But that doesn’t make it bad. Even dads and husbands need “me time” for themselves. So don’t tax his gig so hard-core cruster.

      Edit: spelling

      • krellor
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        181 month ago

        LMAO, I know it’s auto correct typos, but:

        So don’t tax his gag so hard-core cruster.

        Is excellent gibberish.

      • @[email protected]
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        131 month ago

        I get this, I’m a dad, and I know that me time is wonderful, but I also know that if the house is in rough shape because I can’t do anything even if I wanted, that me time becomes an escape instead of a wind down, and the stress returns the moment the screen is off. Help with the house makes it so the relief lasts longer.

    • @[email protected]
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      91 month ago

      That’s a bit of a biased opinion on video games, huh? Maybe some, but certainly not every game and definitely not every gamer is about escapism. Some people destress and chill out with games because they have other responsibilities like kids, work, etc…

      • @[email protected]
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        111 month ago

        I’m in complete agreement, but with two broken arms, they aren’t going to be helping much with house chores (depending on how much mobility they actually have), and having those things done will actually allow for downtime.

        Game thought: DDR?

        • TheRealKuni
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          61 month ago

          Game thought: DDR?

          I feel like there’s a good chance you’d lose your balance with both arms in casts. Maybe not though. It’s a good suggestion!

    • Dr. Bob
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      41 month ago

      help them relieve stress by unburdening them…

      Uhhhh what are you suggesting here exactly?

  • @saltesc
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    871 month ago

    I’ve broken a lot of bones.

    Get him stuff that helps the family so he doesn’t feel useless and guilty. That’s number 1. It’s awful to feel like a burden to everyone, and that doesn’t go away no matter what is said to you.

    Second, stretch bands to put around limbs and pull. It feels amazing. You don’t realise how little you move and how little muscle you use while subconsciously “nursing” a broken bone.

    Something insanely complex that involves both arms to use or solve. It’s just funny as shit. But also, I swear I recover faster.

      • @saltesc
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        71 month ago

        Haha. I think my bone density is fine, I just ask a lot more of them than normal…

        Bones: “This could break us.”

        Brain: “Yeah, “could” but won’t. I got you.”

        collective being does a thing that will be amazing or moronic depending on outcome in the next few seconds

  • @[email protected]
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    611 month ago

    You don’t give your friend a thing, you give his poor wife something. A bidet goes so long and pregnancy itself is hard.

    Seriously: Offer her to do some chores like shopping, gift them some take-away gift cards,etc. The situation will put a serious strain on their relationship,

  • @dohpaz42
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    601 month ago

    Gag gift. Since he broke both arms, and wrists, he hopefully can still hold something lightweight.

      • Krzd
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        101 month ago

        Tape it to his cast.

        • NickwithaC
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          11 month ago

          He’ll learn to shimmy with the best of em!

  • Wugmeister
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    1 month ago

    The Powerglove!

    In all seriousness, if you want to be helpful the best thing you can do is spend some time with him in person. He can tell you what he needs, and you can show him you care. If I got seriously crippled like this I probably would start thinking that none of my friends will make time for me because I have become a burden. Prove that nasty self-talk wrong!

    • @Maggoty
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      61 month ago

      God no, not while your body is healing that kind of stuff.

      • NickwithaC
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        161 month ago

        You don’t need to put actual beer in it.

        • @Maggoty
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          61 month ago

          Lmao that would be a grade A prank. Show up to your follow up with Apple juice in it. Tell them you drove there. And rave about the kind stranger who refilled it for you.

  • Jo Miran
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    1 month ago

    Me who is 51, active boarder (skate, snow, surf, downhill) since the mid eighties, and has never broken a bone, reading this:

    I miss r/neverbrokeabone

    • NickwithaC
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      21 month ago

      Is it possible to break a bone surfing? I always assumed the water just catches you.

      • Jo Miran
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        51 month ago

        Absolutely. You can break your back or snap your neck. What causes a good surf break is a deep sea swell suddenly hitting a shallow. The best breaks tend to happen either over reefs or if the shore has a steep incline (see not Florida). If you are surfing over reefs or rocky bottom, the base of the wave might only be inches deep while the crest is feet tall with a lot of weight and power. One of the most dangerous wipeouts is when you are late and the lip of the wave flips you over, you fall on the rocks, and then a literal building heigh mountain of water lands on you smacking you into the rock, grinding into it, tumbling around into it and, for shits and giggles, not letting you come up for air.

        PS: The break for this Olympics was absolutely fucking bonkers.

      • @Hasherm0n
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        11 month ago

        My dad cracked three ribs while surfing in his 20s. He caught a wave much larger than normal, fell off his board near the top and landed flat on his back.

  • FlashMobOfOne
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    191 month ago

    I’d say audio books, but you can get them the Libby app and a library card and they’ll have tens of thousands available for free.

    • Fubarberry
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      81 month ago

      The catch with Libby is that usually all the good books have hold times. This isn’t an issue when you’ve been using Libby for awhile, you put a bunch of books on hold and you reach a point where you always have something available. But it can take weeks/months as a new user to get to that point where you are constantly having waitlisted books coming available.