M-O-M-M-E

Wed, May 28, 2008 - 10:12 PM

As you can see from my bio on the right hand side of the page, I have no business writing about a spelling bee.

Here’s the scoop on my spelling bee tale of woe:

I’m not quite sure how I ended up in this particular bee, but it’s clear there were no requirements to participate.

The bee was held at the local mall. I easily made it through the first round. But the second word was rough.

When I got onstage, I thought I lucked out. The word was “mommy.”

These judges don’t know who they are dealing with, I thought to myself. I was a pretty good speller and “mommy” would be a piece of cake.

And so I spit it out, expecting to wow the audience with my obvious smarts: M-O-M-M-E.

“I’m sorry,” the announcer said. “But that’s incorrect.”

I was shocked. In my mind, I spelled it correctly: M-O-M-M-Y. How could this be?

But it was and as I dejectedly got off the stage, I was greeted by my own “mommy” with a look of puzzlement and sympathy. She didn’t laugh then, although we have laughed about it many times since.

Moral of the story for tomorrow’s spellers: Too much confidence can be a bad thing. And no matter how badly you screw up in a spelling bee, you can always grow up to be a reporter.

-- Amy Dominello