What To: Buy Someone Who Has Everything

At 10:00 AM, he stood on the street corner. A man in a ragged jacket was shivering. Maya appeared from a nearby cafe, handed Arthur a thermos of coffee, and whispered, "The coat, Uncle." Arthur realized the "blue coat" she’d told him to bring was an old, heavy parka he hadn't worn in years. He handed it to the man. The look of pure, primal relief on the man's face was something Arthur couldn't have bought at an auction.

Arthur looked at his dirty fingernails, felt the lingering warmth of the coffee, and watched the tide come in. For the first time in a decade, he wasn't thinking about his portfolio or the dusting requirements of his Ming vase collection. He was just... there. "You didn't buy me anything," Arthur said softly. what to buy someone who has everything

When you have everything, your biggest problem is finding somewhere to put the new things. For his 50th birthday, Arthur had received three separate "Adopt-a-Highway" certificates, a lunar acre, and a vintage Soviet submarine that he currently used as a very damp wine cellar. At 10:00 AM, he stood on the street corner

Arthur realized the hardest thing to give someone who has everything isn't an object—it's a He handed it to the man

"I have the gift," she announced, sliding a small, suspiciously light envelope across his mahogany desk.