Column: Double Vision
It is sixth grade and excitement is in the air because it’s that time of year once again.
A time of joyful anticipation, humiliation for some and crushed hopes for all but one. The annual middle school spelling bee is upon us. The best of the best in grades sixth through eighth are going head-to-head in a fierce battle of winner takes all.
Specifically, winner takes a $20 Hastings gift certificate and the admiration of all. As mere sixth graders, the school was not prepared for the spelling fury we were about to unleash. Had they done their research, anyone could have come across our mind-bending winning streak of taking first in every class and school spelling bee since third grade.
After a devastating vowel misplacement, Lexie took her seat in the audience while Lindsay pulled through and came away with the win. What should have been a proud day of celebration turned into a dark moment in both of our lives.
Things turned ugly when bitter eighth graders took things into their own hands by shoving little Lexie in the hall and turning the school upside-down with rumors of spelling bee conspiracy. It all reared its ugly head when the spelling bee director confronted Lexie after school concerning our alleged use of telepathy and sign language to give Lindsay the win.
Concerned phone calls and tear-filled hours led to a second meeting with the director where Lexie proudly defended her sister’s honor with a display of Lindsay’s extensive spelling bee awards.
While we were falsely accused of defying authority, we hadn’t even considered the thought. But the powers we hold for evil are at times overwhelming. Sure, we’ve succumbed to those powers in the past, specifically, every time our mom was on the phone.
As babies, we’d quickly remove everything from each reachable cupboard in the kitchen, pour out the contents and we even flung butter onto the wallpaper more than once while our mom innocently chatted on the phone. Some might think this power is a gift, but without self control, it is a curse – as has been demonstrated recently in the news.
A judge in Connecticut wasn’t humored when one twin stood in for her sister in court two weeks ago. The missing sister, charged with credit card fraud, justified the switch by giggling and claiming she had a final that day. The judge replied, “Do you think this is funny? I don’t know why you think this is funny” and increased her bail to five times as much.
Or, take last week’s local example of a twin who took the place of his brother for a day in a high-security job at Salt Lake International Airport. Not only did the judge say their switch raised homeland security concerns, but he refused to decrease the felony to a misdemeanor, which gave the twin trying to help 24 months on parole and five months in prison. Power corrupts, and these twins have illustrated what can happen when good twins go bad. We’d like to think we could pull off such feats, so maybe we’ll try it out during finals week or upcoming job interviews. We’ll keep you posted – and our next court appearance might even make for an excellent future column.
Lexie and Lindsay Kite are juniors in print journalism. Still wish you had a twin? Let us know at Lindsaykite@cc.usu.edu