How much alike are the O'Neils?

Lareesha Khabatari, lk145@uakron.edu

Are the O’Neil twins really that similar? What if you were to ask the same exact questions to them. Would you get similar answers or completely different ones? Well, after an interview, the answer may still be unclear. The two twins, Brother Larry and Brother Tom, were asked a series of questions including, “Do you have twin telepathy?” and “What’s your biggest fear?’ The answers may surprise you.

“Do you have twin telepathy?” - The twins had different answers here. Larry said, “No, I don’t believe in that sort of thing.” However, Tom said, “I don’t really think so.” So, I guess it’s a no here.

“Who’s older?” - This question may hint at twin telepathy as both of them answered in the

same way. They said, “Me/Tom by 5 minutes.” In the exact same wording.

“What are your favorite foods?” - This one had extremely conflicting answers. On one hand, Brother Tom had said if he had to chose one, he’d choose pizza. However, Brother Larry was extremely confident and almost immediately said calamari. (I swear you could see the sparkle in his eyes.)

“What's your favorite way to spend a weekend?” - This one was sweet as they both had very similar answers. Tom said he’d spend it with family or doing something active. Larry said that he’d like chilling and watching a movie with his wife. This shows that brother Larry might be a bit more of an introvert than brother Tom.

“What is your biggest fear?” - Once again, these answers were pretty conflicting as Brother Tom was serious about it but Brother Larry wasn’t. Might hint at Larry being more humorous. Tom said that he’s very claustrophobic but Larry said his biggest fear was Timmy. (As in Mr. Hendrix)

“When’s your birthday?/How old are you?” - This one hints quite a bit at twin telepathy as both of them completely ignored the 2nd question. When trying to pry into it further, both of them stated the same thing: “You never ask a lady her age.” Both their birthdays were on December 25th, they did answer that question.

“Do you like teaching at AECHS?” - Both of them said they loved it here and it was the best school they had ever been apart of. Larry even stated he’s the luckiest teacher in America and that this is the highpoint of his professional career.

“What’s your favorite thing about AECHS?” -  They had different answers this time with Tom stating that his favorite thing about AECHS is the students and how they are even an inspiration to him. However, Larry said that his favorite thing was the students and the staff. He stated that he loved how everyone was like a family here.

The final question was, “If you had one thing to tell the students at AECHS, what would it be?” Brother Tom was simple and said, “Don’t ever give up.” However, Larry stated, “AEC feels like family. I can't imagine being anywhere else.” 

In conclusion, they are similar yet different. Would you say they have twin telepathy despite them denying it? Or would you simply state it was a coincidence?