It is once again time for Jim to celebrate a birthday, and his gifts are things of wonder – a bottle of lotion from Kyle (from France!), a sweater vest from Ruby and Gracie and a painting set from Cheryl. At least Andy and Dana understand Jim, with tickets to the Cubs (Andy) and a beer-of-the-month club (Dana).
When Jim tries to tell Cheryl that the gifts aren’t for him, but for who she wants him to be – her husband Jacques, she actually has the nerve to get upset! We also get to see some entertaining bits where Jacques (who is really just Jim with mustache) painting and acting like Cheryl would like him to act.
That’s when Andy shares his “mantasy”, because men don’t really have fantasies – at least not about other men – and tells Cheryl about how he used to think Jim would go to sci-fi conventions with him. And Dana tells Cheryl about how she though Jim could be her shopping buddy. But it is not to be, so they just live with disappointment.
Meanwhile, Kyle has given Jim the present that he really wanted to give him: A stick (the lotion came from mommy). At first, Jim doesn’t know what to do with a stick, but soon he is taking it everywhere and using it constantly. He changes the channel with it, he pulls things closer, he picks things up, it’s like he can’t live without it – and it drives Cheryl bonkers.
When she realizes that Kyle doesn’t give Jim a present to make him something different, and like Andy and Dana, she just needs to accept Jim too, she gives him a new present: A rock. Jim likes it better than the paint, but doesn’t know what to do with it either, until he manages to crack a nut with it, and then he’s set!
