There's one question in my life I get asked too often, one that curls my toes in my shoes, raises a brow, and often ends in a shrug. 

“Hey!” they would say grabbing my attention, curiosity swirling in their eager, wide eyes. Something new; Exciting for them to ask about. Then I’d watch the question tumble out of their mouths and into my ears, “What's it like being a triplet?” I’d look at them for a second, smile like my usual polite being, and reply “well, I don’t know.”

Oh, and the look I get in response, one with immense confusion, and sometimes annoyance. At this point, before they could follow up with another question, I begin to explain. Like always. “Well you see, its normal for me and it's all I've known. So it’s like me asking you  ‘what’s it like not being a triplet?”’ 

They seem to understand most of the time, but they aren’t satisfied. Of course, I know this all too well. So I provide information to what my life is like anyways, because there are a few things I know, even if they aren’t far from what people assume. My siblings and I, we’re pretty close to each other. We’ve got each others backs and our arguments are usually insignificant, small, and sometimes dumb. But this isn’t a surprise, is it? Some siblings who are a few years apart are exactly the same way. Despite all of this, I’d have to continue to stand there and answer questions. Just empty, boring, repetitive, questions and answers:

“No, we’re not identical, at all, I mean my brother is part of the trio… I think it's possible for triplets to be identical? Who said I was an expert? ” 

“No, I’d go crazy if I was anything like my sister or brother, we act very differently from each other, completely different.”

“Yeah, oftentimes people don’t even know we’re related.”

“My parents are super human, I’m not quite sure how they survived.”

“Ha! sure, I can read their minds… No I was being sarcastic, who do you think I am? An Avenger of some sort?”

Another thing people assume that is completely wrong is that we have the same friends. Nope. For the most part our social lives involve different people, classes, and routines. Although it isn’t uncommon for our groups to merge at times or go and do the same things, we have a complete free will to do something different than what our sibling is doing. 

While they stand there soaking in the information about me, they really haven’t actually learned about me in general. They know I’m a triplet. So? There’s so much more to my identity than that. Believe me. Like I said, where are so totally and completely different from each other. For example, I play the violin and love soccer, my sister sings and likes track, and my brother likes video games and basketball.

In society today, I feel that if there's anything different about you (not by choice) that you're suddenly special or have the attention of others. I never had the choice of being a triplet or not (though I am glad that I am a triplet), but somehow it brings on a lot of extra attention. I would love it if people were genuinely curious about me, not the life of a triplet. While I understand the curiosity, and know it was never meant with bad intent, I just wish people wouldn’t look at that one aspect of me. I will still continue to answer the “What is it like to be a Triplet” question because it will continue to be asked, which is fine.  But I wish in addition to that question people would ask me about me too. There’s a lot one can learn about me that I’m happy to share. People could ask about my hobbies, general likes and dislikes, etc. I’m not just a triplet, and while it is still a big part of my identity, I am also just Rachel.