Oh, how awful, OHG!
I'm getting the sense that for a fair number of people, spelling bees have very little to do with spelling and lots to do with getting past embarrassment. What a shame.
I'd have kicked heiney on a written test, BTW. To this day, I can spell virtually any word if I can write it down. I never learned all those visualization tricks the high-finishing kids use nowadays. I'll bet I'd have gotten past the first round if I'd used one of those!
...and managed to avoid ripping my dress. Oh!
