Alas! I missed it by a week, but in my defense, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been reminded that people with my condition are perpetually behind the times.<\/p>\n
I refer to National Left Handers Day, observed Aug. 13 and described \u00e2\u20ac\u0153as a chance to tell your family and friends how proud you are of being left-handed, and also raise awareness of the issues lefties face in a world designed for right-handers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re right! Too many of us get left behind.<\/p>\n
We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re playing with a stacked deck. Those who lean left need to compensate for our built-in linguistic disadvantage. People on the political right aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily \u00e2\u20ac\u0153right\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as in correct. And those on the left realize that the opposite of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153right\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153left.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But so is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wrong.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Consider the many put-down terms associated with left-handedness: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sinister,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153awkward,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153gauche,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153insincere,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sardonic\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hypocritical.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Did you ever feel honored after receiving a left-handed compliment?<\/p>\n
A few days ago, I invited fellow Facebook lefties to comment on their condition. And I hesitated to use \u00e2\u20ac\u0153condition,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as that implies something\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong with us. When people suggest that left-handedness is some sort of malady, I dig out my faded T-shirt, which reads: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Right-handers use the left side of their brain; therefore, left-handers are the only people in their right mind.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Richard Lindeborg, a port-sider, writes, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When my third grade teacher contradicted my second grade teacher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s previous contradiction of my first grade teacher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s instructions on how a leftie should hold paper and pencil, my parents redeemed a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153research coupon\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from Encyclopedia Britannica to get a definitive answer. Their report became my leftie penmanship Bible, overriding future instructions from teachers. (My handwriting is still terrible.)\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Lindeborg correctly identifies can openers and scissors as among the hardest things to operate. And he adds, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good leftie scissors have both l-h handles and l-h blades.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Donna Thompson and Beth Rose, two \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sinister\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sisters, have had to follow strict protocols when at the dinner table: If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a leftie sitting to the left of a right-hander, you have acres of space in which to swing that fork. But what happens when a leftie is to the right of a righty? The incessant bumping of elbows, it pains me to admit, is not a pretty sight.<\/p>\n
Donna writes: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I take some pride in being left-handed \u00e2\u20ac\u201d perhaps because I am supposedly more right-brained, and therefore more creative. However, notebooks are designed for right-handers. In school, with spirals and bindings on the left side, my hand and arm were constantly dragging across the raised, rough edges. With loose-leaf paper, I tried writing on the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153back\u00e2\u20ac\u009d side of the paper, but my teachers didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it. They felt those holes must all line up on the left side.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Donna added, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I once attended a workshop on handwriting analysis, and the presenter said there was no way to tell by penmanship if a writer were left- or right-handed. Most people, I think, would find that hard to believe.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Beth has experience with the musical tables dance when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s with both \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dexterous\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153gauche\u00e2\u20ac\u009d types. She writes: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sitting at a dining table with right-handers is always an issue. Those right-handers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realize how difficult it is to sit next to them when they are on my left side. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve learned to keep my elbow down, but there is still a bumping of elbows. So I have learned to head for the left-handed corner.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Being a leftie who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s married to a right-handed man has advantages, Beth says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When romance is in full swing, a left-handed and right-handed couple can still hold hands while dining.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nWikipedia, an online encyclopedia, estimates that 75 to 90 percent of the population is right handed. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not only scissors and can openers that have been made solely for the adroit folk among us; cameras, household appliances, autos and shop tools also favor the dexterous.<\/p>\n
So smug is the right-handed world that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conjured up a host of complimentary words to help tout their abilities.<\/p>\n
In addition to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dexterous,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d dictionaries list words such as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153adroit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153forthright\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and even \u00e2\u20ac\u0153handy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And what does that make us gauche people? Chopped liver, diced with a left-handed meat cleaver?<\/p>\n
Two Facebook users also shared their experience as port-siders:<\/p>\n
Geraldine Duran wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am left-handed. When I started school back in the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc50s, I remember my first grade teacher walking past me to spank my left hand with a ruler. She wanted me to write with my right hand! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how I got thru first grade but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still left handed!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Kim Reed-Deemer: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When I was four I began writing my name from right to left (Deer Mik) and my parents had to work with me to get me to conform to the standard. On a good day I can still take a piece of chalk in each hand and simultaneously write my name in mirror images on a chalkboard.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Alberta Jimenez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way of writing was determined partly because of a broken bone in her hand. She said that as a child, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I became a lefty, but my teacher made me write with my right hand. But when it came to playing jacks or throwing a ball, I was a lefty.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Lorilee Herron said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a lefty too. I find it interesting how many special education students and special ed teachers are lefties. I use right-handed scissors, and ironing can feel awkward. I am the daughter of a left-handed twin (boy\/girl and fraternal) who was forced to use his right hand.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
And finally, former Robertson High School teacher Florence Hernandez seemed miffed that this topic was about dexterity, not politics. She wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oops. I thought I was going to read a blog about extreme politics.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Sorry, Florence, but the left and right applies to handwriting. After a few more Trump-fueled G.O.P. debates, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll discover who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right and who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left.<\/p>\n
And who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
Have you heard of Pat Venditti, the Oakland A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pitcher who takes ambidexterity seriously? The switch-pitcher is a 29-year-old Creighton University alumnus who pitches both left and right-handed, depending on which side of the plate the batter chooses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alas! I missed it by a week, but in my defense, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been reminded that people with my condition are perpetually behind the times. I refer to National Left Handers Day, observed Aug. 13 and described \u00e2\u20ac\u0153as a chance to tell your family and friends how proud you are of being left-handed, and also raise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1404,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403\/revisions\/1404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}