1…. There’s probably more cons than pros to being a lefty, but I try to turn the cons into pros as often as I can take for example:
2…. Eating with others at a table – be it round, square or rectangle. Many lefties eat with the fork in the right hand and knife in the left but I use them the “correct way” fork in left, knife in right. But being a lefty it’s my left arm that’s moving the most and when I sit next to right handed people we bump elbows. A lot. How to turn this into a pro? Tell the waiter/ waitress or host that you are a lefty and ask to sit at an outer left hand corner of the table. You might even get to sit at the head or foot of the table if you mention that you are a lefty. The pro is that you end up with more room than many of the other dinners. I haven’t thought of any solutions for round table dinning except to try not to sit at one.
3…. Lefties usually write with the paper slanted to the right. School desks made for right handed students were a big problem – very hard to use if you are a lefty. Luckily I’m not in school anymore so I very rarely encounter “right handed” desks.
4…. I do have a problem when I sit at other peoples computers or use the computers at work. They are usually set up for right handed people. Most of the time I just have to move the mouse, but sometimes I can’t because the mouse cord is too short. Other times the whole set up is too difficult for me to use- the angle of the monitor is wrong, and or the keyboard is placed in a difficult to use place.
5…. Scissors! My first memory of using scissors is in kindergarten. I think it was my adventures with scissors that made me realize as a kid that I was just a little bit different from most of the other kids. I can remember how sore those little scissors made my hand feel when I tried to cut the construction paper. My inner thumb and outer index finger would end up blistered if I did a lot of cutting – and that still happens if I can’t find left handed scissors when I need a pair. Since I’m the chief scissor user in the house all of the scissors are left handed. Poor Chris.
6…. A lot of tools and kitchen appliances are difficult or even dangerous for lefties to use. Knives that are serrated only on one side often do a poor job in the hands of a lefty. I have a special bread slicing knife that my sister gave me as a gift but I can’t use it at all. Potato peelers, manual canopeners, even pitza cutters are tedious to use. Yes many of these items are made for lefties now but they can be hard to find and more often than not are more expensive.
7…. I have left handed pruners for my gardening but I had to special order the kind that I wanted and they cost about $20 more than the right handed model of the same kind.
8…. Only left handed people are in their Right mind. Have you heard that one before? The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and the right side controls the left side of the body. So I’m in my right mind … maybe, well sometimes.
9…. Being right minded, it’s said that left handed people are more creative than many right handers. I am creative, well at least I think so. I like to draw, and I used to do a lot of graphic arts, my husband who is a muscian says I have a good singing voice so I guess I can sing. I enjoy photography but I’m not sure that I’d call that a talent just yet, however I am working on it.
10…. Studies have indicated that left handed people have a higher incidence of autoimmune disorders – inflammatory bowel disease (Ulcerative colitis, crohns), Arthritis, lupus … Unfortunately I’m one of the lefties with Crohns.
11…. Toilet paper. You don’t realize how important toilet paper placement is until you are left handed and the toilet paper is to the far right and perhaps set up so that the paper comes from the back of the roll (under). It’s hard to use that way. We have to use our right hand to get it, and for me the rolls that are set up so that the paper comes from under the roll – usually at the back of the dispenser or against the wall are the hardest to get at.
12…. Pens that have ink in them that doesn’t dry almost immediately when it’s put to paper are a royal pain too. Lefties end up smearing what they’ve written or end up with ink on the outside of their hand.
13…. I guess another pro of being left handed is that we learn to adapt to situations easily. We have to – we live in a right handed world and we need to use our right hands probably far more often than most right handed people have to use their left.
Bonus – A con. It’s hard for right handed people to teach lefties things that are “very” right handed. Things like knitting for example … some people have tried to teach me in the past but they ended up confusing both themselves and me in the process. My husband has been supposed to teach me guitar for over a decade now but he’s hesitant since I’m left handed. Maybe someday he’ll teach me the right handed way and I’ll figure out how to do it left handed on my own. Back to kindergarten – I can remember a teacher trying to teach me to tie my shoes – even that can be hard for a righty to teach a lefty.
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