Out of random boredom again, I decided to Google something which I've been wanting to research and talk about since so many years ago. Yes, and that would be "Left-handedness".
I was born a leftie and have been one for 21 years. I'm the only one in my family that uses her left hand for everything. It brings me joy to know that I'm the "special one" or what they called a "Southpaw" but it was tough growing up as well especially in school.
When it was time for seat assignment at the beginning of every year, I would be praying that I could get the seat and table on the left or that we have seperate tables so that I don't bump into people when I'm writing. Lefties were always a minority in class so I think the righties always minded whenever they had to sit beside a leftie.
I was born a leftie and have been one for 21 years. I'm the only one in my family that uses her left hand for everything. It brings me joy to know that I'm the "special one" or what they called a "Southpaw" but it was tough growing up as well especially in school.
When it was time for seat assignment at the beginning of every year, I would be praying that I could get the seat and table on the left or that we have seperate tables so that I don't bump into people when I'm writing. Lefties were always a minority in class so I think the righties always minded whenever they had to sit beside a leftie.
When it comes to writing, I always have to bend my wrist so that I could see what I was writing as my palm would always cover the words. When it comes to writing on paper with words on it, I would have to tilt the paper towards the right so that I could see as well. And when writing, I would get ink smudges on the base of hand because the ink could never dry up in time when writing.
I should have bought one of these smudge guards during the times when we needed to write long long essays without the use of a computer. Keeps my hand clean. Blehz.I hated arts and crafts at school because of my lefthandedness and of course because I have no art talent. Basically, no matter what kind of medium (paints, colour pencils, oil pastels, pencils etc.) I use, my left hand would always end up getting dirty. I especially hate to use paints because I couldn't rest my hand on the painting and had to lift my hand up and paint in an awkward, painful and cramping manner.
Probably the last disadvantage about being a leftie would be that most of the equipment in this world are built for righties. The most significant being the scissors. Even up till now, I cannot use a scissors properly because of the finger holes and the blade. I think only lefties can understand the frustration that it brings when you cannot cut something becuase of the way the blade of the scissors is proportioned or when something you wanna cut comes out lopsided or has missing edges. I was always embarrased when it came to helping out with designing boards and stuff because I knew I couldn't cut the materials and even if I did, it would come out distorted. And I couldn't use a can opener until my Upper Sec days because we had to open our own cans of food for F&N. From the picture below you can see the old can openers were all designed for righties.
And did you know that knifes and heavy machinery are built for righties? So if we do use them often, we are in serious risk of getting hurt.
Some other nitty gritty things that I've researched on a website regarding the disadvantages of being a leftie are shown below.
1) Wrist Watches: All watches are made to be worn on the left hand, and the southpaw wears his watch on the right arm. Try putting your watch on the right arm, and then try to push the buttons or turn the little knob. YOU CAN'T.
2) Using a Computer. When's the last time you saw a left handed mouse? And how about the keyboards, everything is designed for use by a right handed person.
Whoo hoo! A left handed keyboard with the keypad on the left! I never knew such a thing existed. And if you look closely, even the numbers on the keypad are reversed! Makes life so much easier. However, one advantage that righties can never have is that we can use the mouse with our right hand and take notes at the same time with our left. Oh yeah!
3) There's just no way a "regular" boomerang will return to a person throwing with their left hand, it's impossible.
4) Remote controls. You probably never thought about it but those little romotes are created with the right handed person in mind. The way the buttons are arranged, makes it difficult for a lefty to use "normally".
5) Table settings. Everytime a Southpaw goes to a fancy resturant they have to rearrange the silverware so they can use it normally like everyone else.
6) All cooking utensils are made for righties. Try stiring or scooping food out of a pot or pan with your left hand, it's an adventure.
A left handed French Fries/ Popcorn scooper. Why couldn't they have these when I was working in GV? It was so difficult using the normal scooper.
7) Coffee mugs. They are fine for the lefty as long as you like looking at the plainside of the mug.
8) Potato Peelers. We just can't use them.
9) Rulers. We think differently, so when a lefty goes to use a ruler the numbers seem to go the wrong way on a "regular" ruler.
A left handed ruler. Should really invest in one. I always had to do some minus-ing whenever I wanna draw a certain length.10) Making "Normal" Check Marks. Check Marks were created by some righty because a left just can't scratch down a "normal" check mark like right handed people can. Try it and see for yourself. (Oooh, I never knew that.)
11) Notebooks. Try writing with your left hand on a spiral or 3-ring notebook. Those 3 rings or spiral metal things kind of interfere with your writing.
12) Those desks in schools, with the slab of wood sticking off of the right side so people can "comfortably" write on it. How often do you see ones with the slab of wood on the left side?
13) Sitting beside the less gifted, right handed person, at a dinner table. You know what it's like to sit next to a lefty at a table, now just image always having to be bothered by that. (We always have to sit on the edge of the table if dining in a big group at a rectangular table because we'll hit somebody if we don't. Cruel fact but so true.)
14) Playing Cards. It's difficult to play cards when you can't see the numbers on the corners of the cards, a lefties hand covers them up.
Cards marked on all 4 corners!And some old history about lefties taken from Wikipedia.
1) Left-handers suffered severe prejudice during the 18th and 19th centuries and it was often "beaten out" of people. (Idiots!)
2) In adulthood, left-handers were often shunned by society, resulting in fewer marrying and reproducing. (Shunned? Blehz.)
3) As prejudice declined in the 20th century, the number of natural left-handers who stayed left-handed increased. (Yay!)
4) The rising age of motherhood contributed as, statistically, older mothers are more likely to give birth to left-handed children. (Ooooh. I want my kids to be left handed too!)
5) A study published in 1991 claimed that these statistics indicate that left-handed people's lifespans are shorter than those of their right-handed counterparts by as much as 9 years. The authors suggested that this may be the result of left-handed people being more likely to die in accidents as a result of their "affliction", which renders them clumsier and ill-equipped to survive in a right-handed world. (LOL! I'll die earlier.)
6) In 2007, researchers discovered LRRTM1, the first gene linked to increased odds of being left-handed. The researchers also found evidence that possessing one particular form of this gene slightly raises the risk of psychotic mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. (LOL! I'll become mad.)
7) Hand orientation is developed in unborn children, most commonly determined by observing which hand is predominantly licked or held close to the mouth. (So all you pregant ladies out there, next time when you visit a genae, don't just see whether it's a boy or girl, notice which hand is closest to his/her mouth.)
But there are some advantages of being a leftie.
1) Only 10% of the entire population in the world is left- handed so we're all special!
2) Being left-handed, the right half of the brain (art and languages) gets used more, which means lefties have a higher percentage of artistically talented people than the righties.
3) We can use the mouse and write notes with our left hand at the same time!
4) Have our own special day! August 13th has been declared International Left-Handers' Day. The goal of Left-Handers Day is to increase awareness of the advantages (and difficulties) that come with being left-handed.
5) They offer scholarships for being left handed!
Wow, that was a long post for a single topic. Anyway, it's a tough tough world for a leftie to survive in a right- handed world. There seems to be more disadvantages than advantages for being a leftie. However, we are still unique and special to this world and are like any other human being. So don't discriminate somebody who is a leftie and try to change him/her. That's totally inhumane in my opinion. It's not like we're freaks of nature or something that need to be "changed" or "broken". In conclusion, whether we're righties or lefties or ambidextrious, we must all learn to live together in this beautiful magical world. =)
Some cows I saw on my way home from work one day.
Poor thing.
