Jan 8, 2009
Ohhh, you must know my twin sister...
We're unique in the fact that we have identical DNA. It almost seems like an oxymoron, but it's true. Being identical to another human being puts you in the minority...and it also makes life a whole lot more entertaining.
We thought it would be fun to give you a not-so-thorough idea of what it's like to be a twin on campus. And by "not-so-thorough," we simply mean that the feeling is only comprehensible if you actually are. We didn't know what to expect our freshman year. We had always been in the same classes since Kindergarten, so walking side-by-side through school normally rendered the same stares, comments, and questions we had received outside of school (which, by the way, will constitute the twin book we plan on writing someday):
Alright, alright. You get the point. You'd think they'd get redundant after almost 22 years and you're right, but we don't mind in the least. We really don't like the limelight, but if being a walking freak show makes someone's day slightly more interesting, then so be it. We're all about that.
So, college has been a challenge. We were no longer walking together to each other's classes. We were no longer defined by each other. We were no longer our high school identity/nickname of "the Twins." Lauren became Lauren for the first time and Erin became Erin for the first time. Sounds easy, but not so much.
Lauren's first encounter with being called Erin:
One day freshman year, I was eating on campus with our mutual friend, Victoria. My current friend Ryan who only knew Erin at the time, approached me and said, "Hey Erin! How are ya?" I froze. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as responses flooded my brain.
Awkward silence.
"I'm...good," was all my mouth had received from my brain. The abruptness rendered more awkward silence combined with an awkward half smile and awkward eye contact, which was followed by eye contact with my food while Victoria nervously glanced from me to Ryan and back to me. He sat down at the table behind us and that was that. Or so I thought. Victoria turned around. "Uhh, that's not Erin (laughter). This is her twin, Lauren."
My eyes widened as I shot her a fearful look, whiiiiich created awkward silence followed by Ryan's severe confusion (he had no idea Erin had a twin). His face reminded me of someone who had just been slapped and the awkwardness persisted as I provided no additional explanation to Victoria's comment.
Days later, we had a more official meeting in which we actually exchanged names and laughed over the embarrassment we suffered.
Baby Steps and Damage Control.
Most of that year, we struggled in revealing our identities to those who had mistaken one of us for the other. We like to make people feel good about themselves, so correcting these poor twin-victims was not something we enjoyed doing. It embarrassed them. After awkward-fest with Ryan, TWO people were embarrassed: him and Lauren. That was enough reason to stop pretending to be the other, but some situations occurred and still happen too quickly that thinking quickly either means responding as each other or not at all.
Which is why we created "Damage Control." Our newly developed photographic memories combined with the beauty of Facebook has allowed us to salvage many friendships.
Examples:
We thought it would be fun to give you a not-so-thorough idea of what it's like to be a twin on campus. And by "not-so-thorough," we simply mean that the feeling is only comprehensible if you actually are. We didn't know what to expect our freshman year. We had always been in the same classes since Kindergarten, so walking side-by-side through school normally rendered the same stares, comments, and questions we had received outside of school (which, by the way, will constitute the twin book we plan on writing someday):
- Are you related?
- Are you cousins?
- Are you sisters?
- Are you twins? (The previous four usually occur in that order.)
- Wow! Y'all look alike!
- If one of you gets hurt, does the other, like, feel it?
- Can you read each other's minds?
- Do you go to each other's classes?
- Can your parents tell you apart?
- If you stand back-to-back, can you see 360 degrees?
- Are you twins? Yes. Woah! Siamese twins! (We were standing on opposite sides of the room, we kid you not.)
- Wouldn't it be cool if one of you was born before midnight on New Year's Eve and the other was born after midnight on New Year's Day? Then, you'd be born on different days, months, AND years!
- Who's older? And by how much?
- How can I tell you apart?
- What's it like being a twin?
Alright, alright. You get the point. You'd think they'd get redundant after almost 22 years and you're right, but we don't mind in the least. We really don't like the limelight, but if being a walking freak show makes someone's day slightly more interesting, then so be it. We're all about that.
So, college has been a challenge. We were no longer walking together to each other's classes. We were no longer defined by each other. We were no longer our high school identity/nickname of "the Twins." Lauren became Lauren for the first time and Erin became Erin for the first time. Sounds easy, but not so much.
Lauren's first encounter with being called Erin:
One day freshman year, I was eating on campus with our mutual friend, Victoria. My current friend Ryan who only knew Erin at the time, approached me and said, "Hey Erin! How are ya?" I froze. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as responses flooded my brain.
Awkward silence.
"I'm...good," was all my mouth had received from my brain. The abruptness rendered more awkward silence combined with an awkward half smile and awkward eye contact, which was followed by eye contact with my food while Victoria nervously glanced from me to Ryan and back to me. He sat down at the table behind us and that was that. Or so I thought. Victoria turned around. "Uhh, that's not Erin (laughter). This is her twin, Lauren."
My eyes widened as I shot her a fearful look, whiiiiich created awkward silence followed by Ryan's severe confusion (he had no idea Erin had a twin). His face reminded me of someone who had just been slapped and the awkwardness persisted as I provided no additional explanation to Victoria's comment.
Days later, we had a more official meeting in which we actually exchanged names and laughed over the embarrassment we suffered.
Baby Steps and Damage Control.
Most of that year, we struggled in revealing our identities to those who had mistaken one of us for the other. We like to make people feel good about themselves, so correcting these poor twin-victims was not something we enjoyed doing. It embarrassed them. After awkward-fest with Ryan, TWO people were embarrassed: him and Lauren. That was enough reason to stop pretending to be the other, but some situations occurred and still happen too quickly that thinking quickly either means responding as each other or not at all.
Which is why we created "Damage Control." Our newly developed photographic memories combined with the beauty of Facebook has allowed us to salvage many friendships.
Examples:
- Erin is running late to class as someone waves and says, "Hey Lauren!" Erin does not smile, but waves. Damage Control: Erin describes the waver as female with shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes, of average weight, and approximately 5'5". She carried a blue JanSport backpack. Lauren responds with three possible names and we Facebook the girls together. Erin identifies #2 as the waver and Lauren approaches her the next day to inform her that the girl she waved at was not Lauren, but actually her twin sister, Erin. All is good.
- Lauren is studying by herself in the library as someone walks up to her and says, "Hey!" He does not specifically mention Erin's name, but Lauren has a feeling he knows Erin. Lauren kind of smiles, whispers, "Hi," and continues to study. She knows she just pulled another Ryan disaster, but decides to play it off as coolly as possible. Damage Control: Lauren describes the library guy as tall with short (not buzzed...just short), light brown hair. He had brown eyes and a deep voice with only a hint of a Southern accent. Erin pulls up a few possibilities via Facebook. Lauren identifies one of them as the library guy and Erin approaches him in class to inform him that she was not being rude in the library because it wasn't her. He laughs and thanks her for the explanation as his only thought leaving the library run-in was, "Well, she's in a bad mood today."
Ohhh, you must know my twin sister...
Now that we're seniors, being mistaken for the other is just about an hourly experience. By now, though, we've been able to semi-successfully avoid excessive awkwardness by using these run-ins as opportunities to make new friends.Here's an example conversation of how we've progressed:
"Hey!" (crickets) "Heeeeyyy, youuuu proooobably know my sister, Erin. I'm her twin, Lauren. (reach for the handshake) What's your name?" "[insert new friend's name here] Wow, I didn't know she had a twin." "Haha nice to meet you! Yeah, we have a good time confusing people. So, how do you know Erin?"(etc. etc.)Even though we've gotten pretty good at making the situation not weird for everyone, it's still sort of funny to see people's reactions. Some get so flustered that even saying, "Don't worry about it! We promise you're not the only one!" does nothing to ease the embarrassment. One guy almost fell over a trash can as he stuttered and walked backwards out of the room. Another chapter in the twin book, we suppose.
-Lauren and ErinP.S. If you have twin questions or want to know the answers to any we listed, feel free to let us know! :)
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