Did you know that today, August 13th 2007, is International Left handers Day? Yes I’m a lefty, a southpaw, a port sider, a sinister being and I’m in my right mind and proud of it!
I actually wish I’d been aware of this special day earlier as I would have let all my fellow lefties know.
Many lefties suffer in silence most of their lives living in a right handed world. Today we rejoice!
We often have to become quite ambidextrous in order to survive. I mean, if we use a computer in our work place or in a public library or internet cafe it’s set up for right handed people. Can openers, scissors, gardening equipment such as pruners and so many things are made mainly for right handed people. Sure – in some cases we can get left handed versions, but not always, so we must adapt. Plus buying items that are made only for left handed people can be expensive too.
Throughout school I always had teachers come and try to turn the angle of my paper to a right handed angle (which is to the left). Uh … if you want to read what I wrote on a drastic slant to the left sure … otherwise leave the paper that I turned at a right angle alone!
I also always had ink on the pinky side of my hand when I’d come home from school. Now, as an adult that still happens occasionally, but I use better pens with faster drying ink or perhaps my technique has improved as I don’t have a messy left hand quite as often unless I’ve been writing a lot.
My husband has been pretty good about my being a lefty. The only scissors we have in our home are for lefties and we have can openers, veggie peelers and serrated knives that are sharp on both sides so they are easy for both of us to use. I guess you could say that he probably knows better than some what a left handed person has to go through since our house has a lot of things set up for my ease of use and he’s the one who has to adapt.
I like being a lefty though, even though it hasn’t always been easy.
We’re said to have a tendency to be more creative and I believe that I am a fairly creative person.
There are also quite a few genius lefties – perhaps some lefties are smarter because of all the adaptions we have to make in this right handed world. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this, but I’ve had my IQ tested a few times and it’s in the genius level at 163. (blush). If you want to find out if your a genius you can take this Mensa Quiz for high IQ geniuses. The top of the Mensa Quiz has some interesting facts about lefties and intelligence. Apparently in a test conducted by researchers there were more lefties with IQ’s over 140 (genius level) than right handers.
I also am in quite good company with fellow lefties. Here’s a list of famous left handers. I bet you didn’t know that some of those people were lefties did ya?
Unfortunately lefties also seem to be prone to some disorders that aren’t particularly nice ones such as Crohn’s disease and autoimmune disorders …. hmmm that’s me too. Darn!
How many of my fellow readers are lefties too? I should add a poll thingy to this post to find out. Perhaps I’ll do that later.
Challenge for my Right Handed Readers:
Right handed readers … want to know what it’s like being a lefty? Why don’t you try doing everything that you would normally do with your right hand for just one hour. Try to cut something with a sharp serrated knife (don’t cut yourself please, and notice that most serrated knifes are only serrated on one side! the wrong side for most lefties), try using scissors (don’t get blisters!), open a tin of food, try to write or draw with your left hand and try using your computer mouse with your left hand. Report back to this post as to how you did. I’m curious. I’d also be curious if you lasted the whole hour.
I wonder how long it will take Mr. Fab to come along and say something interesting about my being a lefty.
Let’s hear a big cheer for all left handers!!
Hi, Tricia,
I am a right-hander….;D But, I started using my left hand 1/2 year ago after reading about right brain. Using left hand stimulates my right brain, thus making me more creative. And honestly, it does. I find that I get more creative ideas.
I am using my mouse with left hand too…;D I even train my students using their left hand. Kids are fast learners. Some of them can write beautifully with their left hand nowl.
My sister was left handed and back in those days they tried to ‘convert’ her to being a rightie, which infuriated my mom. So, my sister was a proud leftie as well. She had beautiful handwriting and did calligraphy..also learned to play guitar with the strings strung to accomodate her, which her first instructor didn’t want to do.
She countered that Jimi Hendrix played leftie,so if it was good enough for Jimi…
So cheers to the lefties! Most of you are creative.
If you ever watch ‘The First Wives Club’ you’ll notice that most of the husbands are left handed.
I think I notice that stuff because of my sister.
After kindergarten, I kinda forgot that lefties exist. I only knew in kindergarten because they had special scissors. Hey, congrats on your genius score.
My oldest sister is a lefty, and I suspect I may have been converted from it by a neighbor. Reason for this is that every once in a while, if I don’t think about it I’ll do something like write with my left hand. I also tend to eat more like a lefty does, in terms of how I hold a fork and knife. I have a vague memory of a neighbor scolding me for putting a toy watch on my right wrist rather than left, which makes me wonder if she made me switch early on. She did watch me and my sisters quite a bit.
The writing bit is kind of funny. Until I catch myself, I can write fairly normally with my left. But as soon as I notice, the quality goes way, way down, as I have to think about how to form each letter.
I still have ink smudges on the side of my hand and pinky too! But I was lucky that one of my friends gave me a cool birthday gift recently called SmudgeGuard. It’s a cute little glove that eliminates the problem of smudges for lefties! After using it, I was hooked! I wear it all the time now because it really works! I’m a left-handed artist and I have to say, this has been the most thoughtful gift ever! So if anyone wants to give a cool gift to a lefty friend, you can check out their cool website at http://www.SmudgeGuard.com. =)
I’m a righty but due to excessive use of mouse over the last few years, I’m now doing more stuff with my left hand. The biggest pain was the mouse. It’s shaped for righties!
I’m a lefty, and now I’m bummed that I missed our special day. I will have to put it on the calendar to remember next year!
My dad should’ve been left-handed, but that was back when it wasn’t acceptable, so they made him switch. Out of the 4 kids my parents had, 3 or us are lefties.
International Left Handers Day!! I’ll have to celebrate that this year. I was left handed in kindergarten, but when I got to first grade, my teacher forced me to be right handed. I had no memory of this until this summer which was when i switched back to being left handed. I always wondered why my arm would hurt after writing only a few sentences! This wasn’t an easy task learning how to write, eat, play tennis and golf all over again! But eveything is much more natural now. As far as switching being something that happened in the old days it’s not. I have a best friend and her and her brother were both switched. It’s wierd how genetics plays a part in left handedness, my parents are righties but I have three leftie cousins and an uncle. Go lefties!!