Family gatherings and traditions have a special way of bringing out the absolute best in human pettiness, especially when it comes to gift exchanges.

Take Secret Santa for example – a supposedly straightforward, simple way to show someone you care about them. No matter whether it’s done with family, friends, or coworkers, the sweet game usually comes with very specific instructions. Between the carefully calculated price ranges and the basic understanding that a gift should actually be something you can unwrap and use, there’s endless room for creative interpretation – or spectacular failure. And somehow, someone always finds a way to choose the latter and completely misses the point, turning what should have been a cheerful exchange into a delicate dance of generosity and disappointment.

While most families deal with the classic offenders who can’t count to $100, occasionally you get that special someone who decides to reinvent the entire concept of what counts as a «present.» Enter our tale of holiday dysfunction, where a man dared to question whether his sister’s pregnancy announcement, cleverly disguised as his favorite DVD set, actually counts as meeting the Secret Santa requirements.