I was working in the kitchen, replacing the outlets near the sink with
GFCIs. When I went out to turn the breaker off, I found out that the
breaker that turned off the five outlets was two 20A breakers that had
been connected in the panel as if they were a 20A 240 V circuit. When I
disconnected the two of them, I found that one breaker controled the
outlets on the left hand side of the sink (2 outlets on the counter, one
for the refigerator and one for the microwave) while the other breaker
controlled 3 outlets on the right side of the sink.

What's the reason for connecting the two breakers together in the breaker
box? If there is a short in one of the outlets on the right hand side,
will both breakers together trip as easily as the one would by itself?

charles