Emporia ? It’s a pretty safe bet that many of the hungry customers at Bobby D’s Merchant St. BBQ have noticed the fast, efficient service their waitress gives them.

But if they would pay a little bit closer attention, they’d see that that quick little waitress is really two waitresses nearly identical twins Crystal Germann and Christina Johnson.

The twins started working at Bobby D’s in 2002.

“I came here first,” Crystal said. “We had graduated from Flint Hills Technical College as dental assistants, but after we did our internships, (we) decided we really didn’t want to do that. And I was bored at home.”

So Germann applied for an opening at the popular restaurant.

“I came in and applied,” she said. “And then Debbie (Doudican, wife of owner Bob Doudican) called me and said, ‘You’ve got to come here to work for us. And all the guys in the kitchen think you’re so cute.”‘

Within a month, Doudican asked if Germann knew of anyone else looking for a job.

“And I said I had a sister,” German said.

The fun had just begun.

Twin sisters Christina Johnson, left, and Crystal Germann both work at BobbyD's Merchant St. BBQ in Emporia. The twin waitresses often confuse customers, who don't realize there are two of them.

“When I started, Bobby said, ‘Hi, Crystal.’ one day,” Christina Johnson said. “And I told him I wasn’t Crystal.”

“He got so confused for a while,” Johnson said, “that he called us ‘C’ and ‘NC,’ for Crystal and Not Crystal.”

“Oh, they’re mean,” Bobby laughed. “Real mean.”

The twins, the middle children of a close-knit family, seem to relish being the mirror-image of each other.

“We’re not supposed to be identical,” Christina said. “But our mom had to paint one of our toenails to tell us apart when we were babies.”

Contrary to the myth that twins trade identities frequently, Crystal and Christine only did it once.

“We were in the same class in first grade at Eureka Elementary School,” Crystal said. “Mrs. Lewis was our teacher and she could tell right away. After first grade, we were separated.”

“But we really missed each other,” Christine said. The sisters were both married in 1998 Christina and husband Chris Johnson were married in June, Crystal and husband Travis Germann were married in November.

The two couples lived together until Crystal had a baby, something her sister hasn’t done yet, although Christina said she and Chris are going to try to start a family this summer.

“Our husbands said they thought it was time to separate then,” Crystal laughed.

The Doudicans seem proud to have twins working for them.

“These two do not ever say a bad word about anybody, ever,” Debbie Doudican said.

But they do laugh a lot.

“Sometimes customers don’t notice there are two of us,” Crystal said. “And they’ll just say, ‘Wow. you’re really fast.”‘

But there is one question that absolutely cracks them up.

“So many people will ask, ‘Are you related?”‘ Christine said.

“And as soon as they walk out of the restaurant, we all go, ‘Nooooo,”‘ Debbie Doudican said, laughing.