Chelyabinsk clinic twins: Some patients come just to talk

— Even some doctors didn«t realize at first that there were two of us, — smiles Nadya.

— Yes, if we take off our badges, people don«t distinguish us, they get confused, but we don»t worry, — Inga backs up her sister. — Sometimes you«re walking down the street, and complete strangers say hello. I say: »You probably confused me with Nadya? But hello anyway,« and I run on.

— It«s worse if you don»t say hello because you don«t know the person, and then they get offended. So we say hello to everyone so as not to hurt anyone, — the sisters laugh.

Inga Kargapolova and Nadezhda Askarova are among the first to greet patients at the clinic of Chelyabinsk City Hospital No. 1 — the sisters have been working at the reception desk for 10 years. Their monitors at the desk almost touch, and visitors occasionally have doubts — is it double vision, because in front of them are two such similar employees. But no…

«Like Yin and Yang»

— We«re not fraternal twins, we»re mirror identical twins, — Inga explains routinely. — In childhood, they confused us a lot, of course. Nadya was always a bit chubbier, I was a bit thinner, but still we were identical. Mom would sometimes bathe the same one twice, then started putting different scarves on us so no one would mix us up.

The sisters recall a funny incident in kindergarten.

— They photographed us for New Year«s, and our parents ordered six photos of each, but they made 11 photos of Nadya and one of me, — Inga continues. — The photographer decided it was the same girl.

However, according to the sisters, their peers had no trouble telling them apart.

— We lived in old courtyards in the AMZ settlement. There were two-story houses and a yard full of children. And everyone communicated with each other. And there was never anything like: «Oh, Nadya or Inga?», — says Inga. — Friends never confused us. In college, our girlfriends also distinguished us.

— Those who«ve been communicating with us for a long time say we»re completely different. Inga is such a fighter, and I, on the contrary, am calm, — explains Nadezhda.

— We balance each other like Yin and Yang, — adds Inga. — I«m always the gang leader, if we»re planning a vacation somewhere — I«ll find everything, buy tickets, book, we go. And they»re like: «We»re with you.« And in childhood it was the same: we»d find candy in the cupboard, eat it, and then I«m standing alone in the corner.

Inga and Nadezhda say they«ve been used to doing everything together since birth: they played together in kindergarten, then went swimming, dancing, and figure skating together after school.

— We didn«t need anyone else. In kindergarten, if Nadya got sick, I sat by the door on wet mats and there I got pneumonia, — recalls Inga.

After finishing school, the sisters entered a pedagogical college together and got jobs working in a kindergarten.

— I had a dream that I«d grow up and be such a teacher that my children wouldn»t get pneumonia, — jokes Inga.

Inga worked with children for five years, then health problems started, and she moved to the personnel department at a factory. And Nadezhda got a higher pedagogical education and worked in a kindergarten for 17 years.

— Then I also realized from how I felt that enough was enough. And the kids had grown up. With age, you understand that, like, you have a family, but you«re always with other children. I decided I needed to change something in life and went looking for another job. I came to the clinic. I thought, I»ll work a little, if I don«t like it — I»ll leave, — says Nadezhda.

— Nadya came in November, and I came in April. She says, let«s go, a woman is leaving. And by that time, I»d already been on maternity leave for six years, got tired of being at home. My husband was against it, but I decided to go back for a year, and here we are, we«ve been working for 10 years already, — adds Inga.

«Put yourself in the patients» shoes«

In the clinic, the reception desk is the front line; often patients pour out all their negativity right here. The sisters admit that their pedagogical education and experience working with children and parents turned out to be invaluable here.

— I«m very sensitive, vulnerable, and if someone starts yelling at me, I immediately start crying — that»s my reaction, — confesses Nadezhda. — Now I«ve learned to abstract myself from it, I just say: »I won«t argue with you,» stand up and leave. I don«t get into conflicts because it negatively affects my health, my emotional state. I try to talk to people calmly, even if I»m explaining something — without raising my voice. People react to your response. If you speak calmly, explain calmly, a person will never yell back at you. As psychologists in kindergarten told us: «Speak more quietly to children, they»ll start listening.« The louder you shout, the louder they start shouting over you. The more you lower the temperature, the quieter you talk, the faster the person starts to calm down. These are pedagogical, psychological techniques we were taught.

— Well, our childhood passed in queues with grandmothers, so we also know how to talk to them, — adds Inga. — Again, you always think: what if my mom comes like this, and they answer her rudely, what good will come of it? Put yourself in the patients« shoes. It»s clear that healthy people don«t come to us. Some just come to talk. We have a granny, she complains: »At home, my granddaughter scolds me, relatives scold me, there«s no one even to talk to,» she comes to us. Some are even willing to take two or three tickets, wait in line, just to get to us. So even if you yourself are feeling down, people aren«t to blame for that; if you come to work — smile, no matter what»s in your heart.

«50 — between the two of us»

Of course, the twins have had their own families for a long time; Nadezhda has three children, Inga has two sons, but they confess they can«t imagine themselves without each other, so they try to spend weekends, holidays, and vacations all together, in a big group.

— Our kids are used to us dragging them everywhere with us. We love going to Uvildy, fishing, mushroom picking, to various city festivals. Every year on vacation, we go to a new city — we gather together, discuss. This year we«re planning to go to Kaliningrad, last year — we went to Nizhny Novgorod, before that — to Kazan, Ufa, Tyumen, Tobolsk. In the plans — Baikal, Altai, Karelia, — lists Inga. — We always go for the first time with some tour company, for guided tours. Once we went on the Golden Ring after COVID, and there was a small group — 16 people, and there were eight of us. And they told us: »Okay, let«s split up: the family goes separately, all the rest — separately.» And we had separate tours, a separate guide. This time we«ll fly, there are nine of us too, we»ll take half the plane, and mom, and the kids — with us.

Next year, Nadezhda and Inga have a milestone — 50 years, but they joke that they legally divide their age by two:

«We»re identical, so 50 — between the two of us, so we«ll be 25 each. The prime of life: the kids are grown, no grandchildren yet, so we live and enjoy!»

Earlier we told the story of a family in which two pairs of twins were born in a row. Read their story.