Spread around the "jaw-dropping disappointment."

They look at you, these women, as you unwrap what they've given because they know your actual reaction will be evident in your facial expression even as your mouth is forming the words "Oh! How wonderful!"

Is it proper to re-gift something that you don't want or need? Many years ago etiquette experts discouraged the practice. But times have changed and so have our gift-giving habits.

In this story, it's a real-life competition to defy death. Because the punishment of knocking off first will mark the culmination of a nearly four-decade-long practical joke -- quite possibly the longest ongoing joke in the history of prank-manship.