I should have won the Spelling Bee in 5th grade.
It’s almost 40 years later, and I’m still peeved about it.
It was down to me, a nerdy 5th grader, and Alex Chadalavada1, a nerdy 6th grader.
It was my turn. The word was “wherewithal.”
I had no idea what it meant, and no idea how to spell it, except…
Something in my gut told me there was only one “l” at the end. My body knew there was only one “l.”
But my brain interceded—why would there be only one “l”?—and I said, “W-H-E-R-E-W-I-T-H-A-L-L. Wherewithall.”
Ding!
The judge pressed the top of the silver and black call bell, signaling a misspelled word.
Nooooooooo!
Now it was Alex’s turn. He had to spell my word correctly—no brainer, since I’d just shown him how it wasn’t spelled—and then one more to be declared champion.
His final word was “beaverette.” (Rabbit fur dyed to resemble beaver fur, in case you’re wondering. I wasn’t, until now; I just looked it up.)
The next part of my memory runs forever in slow motion.
“B-E-A-V-E-R-E-T…” Alex began. And here he paused, took a long breath, and looked toward the judge’s table.
The judge’s hand, I kid you not, came off the table and hovered over the bell, waiting to see whether Alex was finished. Alex saw it. I saw it.
“T-E.” The letters spilled out in a rush. “Beaverette.”
I’d been robbed! Alex saw the judge’s hand as clearly as I had! He would have misspelled it if it hadn’t been for that stupid judge!
That’s how I told the story for years, anyway. I was robbed. I could have won. It should have been mine.
Except that wasn’t true, was it? If Alex had misspelled beaverette and I got to continue, I might have misspelled a different word. Who knows what would have happened?
It took me a dozen or so years to admit the real source of my angst: I hadn’t listened to my gut.
And somehow, that does still bother me, just a little, all these years later.
Funny, since it probably gave me the wherewithal to listen to my gut many times since.
- Not his real name. I just Googled him and am happy to report he lived up to his full, nerdy potential, and is a highly regarded PhD economist.
