Double your pleasure and insight into the freaky world of twins
Don’t get us wrong, this whole twin deal does have its perks. We hear even the most homely twins are automatically up three on the 10-point scale of attractiveness simply because there are two of them. We won’t lie – this statement helps us sleep a little better at night.
But while coming in pairs might initially increase our appeal, it doesn’t take long before we are reminded that being a twin isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
There is nothing better than having strangers stare at you long enough to make their own analysis of how different you look from someone else. Usually, one of us ends up bitter and angry because we are, according to someone who is truly educated in the subject of finding differences, the ugly twin.
“The ugly twin” may not be exactly the phrase we hear, but “the one who doesn’t do her hair,” and “the one with the rounder face” have about the same impact. All of this, just because we happened to be born six minutes apart and have identical DNA. Twins have feelings too, people.
So here comes the insight you hoped for. On a bi-weekly basis, we will attempt to shine light on a few of the nightmarish issues we, as twins, encounter every day.
Maybe after a clearer perspective, you won’t be so prone to say you wish you had a twin.
You ignore everyone you know. Inevitably, most of the people you know will decide you are rude and stuck-up when your twin walks past without acknowledging their presence.
Even worse, things can get pretty awkward when your twin pretends to be you to avoid hurting the other person’s feelings. If the conversation goes beyond “Hi, how are you?” panic sets in.
Twins can easily get caught up in a web of lies just by trying to maintain each others’ friendships.
You can’t pull off dressing like twins unless you are 5 years old. But sometimes it’s unavoidable. We don’t even live together, yet we somehow find a way to accidentally coordinate our outfits almost daily. It is a creepy feeling when it takes more effort to dress differently than it does to dress the same as your twin.
While problematic now, this issue does come in handy while looking back at childhood pictures. You probably never had to figure out who you were depending on if you were in pink or purple. And your parents probably never had to glue different-colored bows on your head so they knew which kid you were. And you also probably never had to deal with the health complications of eating the bow off your sister’s head.
Birthdays pose a variety of problems for twins. Be grateful you never had to feel the pain of missing out on a small party because your friend could “only invite one more person.” And unless you want to know what all of your presents are before you open them, you better carefully coordinate your gift-opening schedules.
Life as a twin: not so glamorous after all, eh?
Lindsay and Lexie Kite are both juniors majoring in print journalism. Double Vision will run every other Wednesday. Feel free to contact the twins at lindsaykite@cc.usu.edu.