Monday, August 13, 2007

HAPPY LEFT-HANDERS DAY!!!!


"Everyone is left-handed until they commit their first sin" - Anonymous


In case you didn't know, August 13 is International Left-Handers Day. According to Wikipedia, this day was first observed on August 13th, 1976. A little more research led me to the website for the Left-Handers Club, where I found all kinds of fun things, including the Lefties Lament Song and a Left-Handers Quizz.


As a lefty living in a right-handers' world, I must say that we are one of the few groups left against which discrimination is still rampant and often times encouraged. WE, the lefties, are forced to live daily with right handed scissors, right handed computer "mice", right handed spiral notebooks, and just an endless list of items not built with us in mind. WE, the southpaws, suffer endlessly at the mercy of the right-handers' creations. But do we complain? Do we picket, and boycott? Do we lash out at the righties when they steal our left-hander's scissors? NO! WE live in harmony with the righties, learning to adapt, using the mouse right-handed, learning to cut with our right hand, sometimes even becoming ambidextrous, just so we can blend, we can conform, we can function as valuable members of society.


But, the truth is, we know better. See, WE, the lefties, have the upper hand, after all. Because when we take over the world, and create only left-handed tools, all the righties will be screwed, because they've never had to adapt and learn.


After all, "If the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body and the right side of your brain controls the left side of your body, then left-handed people must be the only ones in their right minds." W.C. Fields.


A few left-handers of note, in no particular order, and without commentary about my personal opinion of them:


Angelina Jolie; Eminem; Nicole Kidman, Oprah Winfrey, Kate Hudson, Jay-Z, Julia Roberts, Paul McCartney, Will Ferrell, Bill Clinton, Joan of Arc, Hellen Keller, DAvid Letterman, Mark Twain, Wil Wheaton.


These are obviously just a "hand"full of them.


Happy Left-Handers Day to all you lefties. And to the righties, don't worry, we accept you as you are.

10 comments:

qualcosa di bello said...

impressive list of lefties! i do feel for you - after a bout of carpel tunnel syndrome a few years ago, forcing me to be ambidextrous, i really felt for anyone who has to go against their natural grain every single day with simple tools

Trista said...

What a happy day for us southpaws. I knew we had a special day, but didn't know what day it actually fell on. I will have to remember to post about it tonight.

mommysbusy.com

Miss Frou Frou said...

I was just talking about the problems of lefthandedness last week... and that we are not clumsy, it's just that we have to instantly reprocess what feels natural into a righthanded designed world and sometimes we are quick enough.

By biggest issue is walking into door frames, getting fingers caught in doors... the handles should be on the other side!

Julia Phillips Smith said...

I'm a rightie but my husband is a leftie. He set up our new computer and I'm now mousing it on the left. I'm used to it and I figure it keeps my brain from developing atrophy.

Literary Feline said...

Don't you love the comment, "Oh! I didn't know you were left handed! What's that like?"

I'm a very proud lefthander. :-) My father is left handed and fought tooth and nail not to be switched to a rightie when he was learning to right. My mom wasn't so fortunate and was forced to switch. She's pretty much ambidextrous as a result, which sometimes I envy.

I do several things right handed (including using the mouse at work to save my left wrist from overuse thanks to Carpel Tunnel Syndrome in my left wrist--but boy, do I suck at minesweeper when using my right hand!), but I'm very much predominantly left handed.

Unknown said...

One of my four children is left-handed. Had no idea there was a day of celebration for Lefty's. I too was a Lefty until my mother switched me, she said, "It's a world for right-handed people" You said something similar up. I let me kids do whatever they were comfortable with.

Karina said...

QDB, I think I'm actually one of the lucky lefties because I tend to be pretty ambidextrous, so there are few "righty" tools that bother me, but the ones that do, REALLY do. ;-)

Busybee, I will head over to visit and see what you posted.

Miss Frou Frou, I never thought about the door frames and handles thing, but now that you mention it...yeah, I do have issues with those as well!

Julia, that's one thing I've never had an issue with, the computer mouse...I've always used it righty without even thinking about it.

Literary Feline, those stories about people being forced to switch just blow me away. I don't remember being a lefty ever being made an issue when I was younger...at all. You should take the "how lefty are you" test over on that website in my post...it's interesting. I learned that I'm mostly righty...go figure.

Lisa, I think you did the right thing, after all, I think that's one of those nature v. nurture arguments...can you really change a lefty? We can be trained, but we'll always be lefties! lol

Wicked H said...

I knew we were the only ones in our "right" minds.

Happy Lefty's Day!!

Rebecca said...

When you take over the world huh? At least I'm ambidextrous (sp?) enough to deal if I ever lost my right hand...

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ENJOY!