A longtime friend of mine recently asked the question on his social
media page, of all his left handed friends and family, “When you shake hands, do you prefer to use your
dominant hand or do you automatically go righty because it's considered the
norm?”. I have a handful of things that I am really passionate about.
One of those things is left-handedness. In
my opinion (and that’s all it is) most of the things that lefties do with their
right hand isn’t out of comfort or “etiquette”, but out of adapting to a right
handed dominated society. His question “left” me wanting to offer my two
cents on the subject.
When
I was young, I didn’t have any left handed friends. I had two uncles that were
left handed in my family that I knew of. Growing up I had several people,
teachers, family members, etc. that would give me grief about being left handed. I remember in
school, if my paper was smudged, points were taken off my grade. If I used my
left hand to try to complete various tasks, and was having a difficult time
completing said task because it was geared more toward a right handed person, I
would be yelled at or told “Why don’t you use your right hand? Why don’t you
use the "correct" hand?”. I remember in grade school when it was time for arts
and crafts, everyone would get out their scissors, construction paper and glue etc.
and start to cut the construction paper. What did this guy pull out? Yep, you
know it, those pair of scissors with the green rubber grips and the word
LEFTY in bold letters going down the sides of the blades. They just screamed “LOOK
AT ME”. If you tried to use the right handed scissors the paper would end up
looking like a cat used it as a scratching post.
Some
of the teachers would try to make me bend my hand all goofy looking when I
write to not smudge my writing. But I could not do that. It ended up hurting my
wrist. So I would just write how it felt comfortable to me. It all worked out.
But as I was growing up I just put all that aside and didn’t worry about it.
Can’t you tell it doesn’t bother me? Here I am 43 and I’m still talking
about it. Lol As I grew older I started noticing more and more left handed
people. I started noticing more left handed sports stars, movie and television
stars, etc. So I would think, wow more and more lefties are around now, maybe
it will be more accepted. Boy was I wrong.
It
wasn’t until years later that what I call the “lefty hate” really started to bother
me more and more. Though left handedness was seemingly becoming more common, (I’ve
read anywhere from 6-10% of the world is left handed) society is still dominated
by the right handed mentality. Most of everything you do is geared toward the
right handed person. A few examples are using a screw driver, tightening a
bolt, using a hand can opener, and even most doors on your house are made for
the right handed person. I didn’t realize it until the other night, but even
the lawn mower. The rope you pull to start it is on the right side of the
mower. But most people don’t think about these types of things because either
A) You’re a righty and if it doesn’t affect you then why would you think about
it or B) you’ve adapted to using your right hand for various right handed
things and it’s become second nature to you now.
But
there are people out there, like me, that are very passionate on the subject as
well. Some have even made websites, Facebook pages, and newsletters. One that I read all the
time is called Anything Left Handed. If you sign up for their newsletter they
send out left handed facts, history, and information. They also sell left
handed merchandise. But they are in the UK, so shipping may be a little costly
if you are not. So I found this place in Florida called Lefty’s: The Left Hand
Store. I believe they also have a location in San Francisco too. I had to make
a trip to their store in Florida when I visited a couple years ago. I wish they had some
of those things when I was younger.
One
of the points I like to make is, if you have a child who is left handed, do not
attempt to make him/her right handed. Do not try to change them or make them
feel like they are wrong for being left handed. Even if you say you’re “joking”.
You’re not joking, you’re being a jerk. Oh to answer my friend Mike’s original
question, I mainly use my right hand. Like I said earlier I believe it’s
because of adaptation. But I do use my left on occasion. It does feel more
comfortable and it also creates an awkward moment from the recipient because it
throws them off a little. Ha! Remember fellow lefties, August 13th is International Lefthanders Day.
