You Might Be Left-Handed If ...

Does Being Left-Handed Lead to Success?
Greetings: This article comes to you from the desk of a left-handed author, sitting in a left-handed house, using a left-handed mouse
Gone are the days when nuns in black habits told little left-handed girls sad stories of white prom dresses ruined with tomato soup. I was in nursery school when I heard the story of the handsome right-handed boy who bumped his left-handed date's elbow while they were eating at the prom. Even at five years old, I wondered why tomato soup would be served at a prom, which, in a four-year old's mind is as elegant as Cinderella's ball. But Sister Mary Someone told me, so it had to true. Fortunately those same nuns eventually embraced my left-handedness when it became obvious to them that no force on the planet, no story however tragic, could rip that amply-sized first-grade pencil out of my first-grade dominant left hand. I'm grateful they that they were benevolent Italian nuns - and wise! They knew how to teach a little left-hander and guided me to turn my paper the opposite way of the other first graders. So I printed my name with in perfect Zaner-Bloser style in my little Zaner-Bloser writing book, not appearing a great deal different than my peers!
I've loved being left-handed which might be an odd thing to say. However, there's a sense of belonging to a group. They're my hood - my peeps. Though we have never met, I know we share similar experiences. When I spy them out and about, I recognize mine and mine sometimes recognize me. But many whom I meet are like left-handed Pochos who seem to have forgotten or rejected their "heritage" to some degree. Most often, when I say, "Oh, I see you're left-handed," they'll smile - politely, of course - but seem to want to tell me of all the things they do with their right hand! If the difficulties below (as some may call them) and humorous aspects of your handedness listed fit you, I say, "Deny your culture no longer! Embrace your handedness and come join our merry band!" (I mean "Come roll with our crew, Dawg".)

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The clothes on your side of the closet face the opposite way of your spouse's or roommate's.
This is merely indication, unscientific as it may be, that you are indeed one of us! This tendency can actually be a great benefit if you're the one doing the laundry. I put my husband's clean shirts in the closet with the buttons facing right. After he wears them, he hangs them up with the buttons facing left. We always know which shirts have been freshly washed and which might need to walk themselves over to the hamper. -
You're convinced you're ambidextrous!
True ambidexterity is a rare occurrence. Since one out of 100 people is estimated to be ambidextrous (1%), and since left-handers comprise a larger percent of the population (10-15%), Las Vegas would be putting money on the chances that you, as an amazing left-hander, have simply accommodated to the right-handed world! I throw a ball right handed, eat right-handed, and I even sign in American Sign Language with my right hand. As left-handers we are accustomed to doing tasks that way because we were taught that way. But it's not too late, left-handers. Why not try a task you now accommodatingly do with you right-hand , and try doing that task with your dominant left hand instead. Who knows? You might become the next John McEnroe or Monica Seles!
Left Handed Corkscrew

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Wine bottles tend to turn into wrestling partners as you turn the corkscrew with your left-hand against the natural torque of that hand. I realized recently that when opening a bottle of White Zin or Merlot with a right-handed corkscrew, I tend to turn my back to whomever is in the kitchen to avoid hearing their impatient "here-I'll open-that-for-you" comment. But, Ha! I'm going to buy myself one of those niffy left-handed corkscrews and wait to open a bottle when everyone is standing in the kitchen. But I'm not going to tell them that the corkscrew is left-handed! I'm just going to leave it on the counter and wait to see what happens when they try to open the next bottle of wine.
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You tend to prefer to buy mugs with cute-sayings or pictures at the 99 cent store. Why? If you think about it, many items are at the 99 cent store because something is mean different about them. The mugs sold there, invariably have the saying or picture printed on the opposite side as the mugs at Macy's! When a left-hander holds one of these "misfit" mugs from the 99 cent store in his left-hand, the picture faces the outside as it was meant to. I suspect these mugs have been purposely printed by left-handed mug-makers who are exercising some degree power in their right-handed world, however covertly.
It's a Right-Handed World

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The barrettes in your hair end up upside down. I first discovered this months after I had bought a delightful barrette with embroidered Guatemalan worry dolls. The poor dolls not only had to try to rein-in my errant hair, but they had to do it upside down!
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The objects in your kitchen keep traveling around. My father used to say, "A place for everything and everything in it's place." Not in our house! The salt and pepper shakers, along with the parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme are like fugitives on the run. My right-handed husband puts them on one side of the cupboard, and I put them back on the opposite side. I don't know what it means, though, when we find the cinnamon in the refrigerator.
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You approach hugging another person like a boxer, weaving this way and that. I don't even know any more if I hug right handed or left handed. Either I trained the people in my family to hug me left handed or they trained me to hug right handed. At least they still hug me.
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You have a "cute" nickname like my little klutz or dopis (as my father, quite unwittingly and lovingly called me). Hopefully you've been a good sport about it. Of course, you have been, you're accommodatingly left-handed!
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You're a good baseball pitcher or a good first baseman. Left-handed players are prized in baseball.... Hitters have a hard time getting used to looking at a pitch coming from a left-hander, and the left-handed first baseman's glove is on his right hand and that means he is closer to the fielders when a ball is thrown. Playing left-handed also causes your opponent to exert half of his mental energy trying to figure out which way whatever you're throwing is going to land
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You got a catcher's mitt for Christmas and couldn't understand how to use it. It took me years before I stopped trying to throw the ball with my catcher's-mitted left hand! Just buy a catcher's mitt for your right hand and you'll be throwing that ball just fine.
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You want to swear at a jar of pickles or olives - again it's the torque thing that's holding you back. This is one time I suggest using your right hand to open that jar. There's no hope in convincing the vacuum-packing, hermetical-sealing industry to create left-handed jars and medicine bottles just for us.
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Your back aches after working at the computer all day long with a mouse set for the right-hand. It's easy to change, takes a bit of a learning curve to use, but it's hilarious when others use your computer!
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You happen to be as famous as Oprah, President Obama, former Presidents, Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. (I was so hoping Cruise-Kidman marriage would have worked out just for the fun of seeing how a gazillion-dollar, totally left-handed celebrity house would look.)
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You have dreams of building a Disney-like Amusement Park called Lefty-Land where the teacups spin "backwards" and left-handers only work there. The park would feature left-handed musicians, left-handed comics, and left-handed Princesses and Heroes named Zzub Yearlight, Niddala, or Abmis. And there would be a video booth where all right-handers could fumble around with left-handed barrettes and corkscrews. They could buy the CD and take it home for more laughs or send it to American Funniest Home Videos. Of course, we'll need lots of money to develop Lefty-Land,so we'll just call our most famous sister in handedness. Oprah, can you hear us ?
So, write your own left-handed experiences in the comments below and we'll continue we'll stand together in handed-ness and sing a rap like the left-handers below. Ecaep and nuf to you.
Favorite Links
Anything Left-Handed - UK company with left-handed products and comprehensive information
Being Left-Handed - Wonderful Website with a myriad of topics and videos
Leftys of San Francisco - Online store that also has a retail shop on Pier 39 in San Francisco. Fun products including T-shirts, children's mugs, and school supplies.
Note On Video:
The video below is not meant as a commercial endorsement. It was the result of a contest by one of the few left-handed stores in the country. It is included here because of it's information and humor. For full disclosure, I do have a product for sale at this company, but that product is not exclusively sold there and is ubiquitous throughout the internet. I am not an employee nor do I have any other affiliation with this company. I include it here for your enjoyment only.
Left-Handers Rap from Lefty's, the Left-Handed Store
Famous Left-Handers
American Female Celebrities
| American Male Celebrities
| Miscellaneous- Politics, Music, Sports,
|
---|---|---|
Oprah Winfrey
| Jay Leno
| Albert Einstein
|
Caroline Kennedy
| Tim Allen
| Albert Schweitzer
|
Natalie Cole
| Steve McQueen
| Pres.Ford, Reagan.GHW Bush, Clinton, Obama
|
Cloris Leachman
| Christian Slater
| Beethoven
|
Carly Simon
| Mathew Broderick
| Jimi Hendrix
|
Shirley MacLaine
| Bruce Willis
| Paul McCartney
|
Whoopi Goldberg
| Cary Grant
| Raphael
|
Julia Roberts
| Jerry Seinfeld
| Michelangelo
|
Diane Keaton
| Keanu Reeves
| Babe Ruth
|
Nicole Kidman
| W.C. Fields
| Lou Gehrig
|
Judy Garland
| Harpo Marx
| Pele
|
Goldie Hawn
| Ryan O'Neil
| Benjamin Franklin
|
Betty Grable
| Jim Hensen
| Thomas Jefferson
|
About You, the Reader
I am left-handed
I always thought I was ambidextrous, but after this article, I'm wondering.
As a left-hander, I think I'll try at least one thing left-handed that I previously accommodatingly did right-handed.
Comments
I played guitar 'right-handed' for twenty five years (which involves using the LEFT hand on the guitar neck!), and got to a pretty good standard. I never understood why though I struggled compared to students of mine; things I would teach them they could play with more fluidty than me after a short time... YEARS later I still struggled! Eventually through sheer bloody mindedness I persevered though.
Anyway, about ten years ago I pretty much gave up as my left hand lost its usage (through tension and overuse?).
However, a couple of years ago I switched to playing LEFT handed (which means the RIGHT hand is on the guitar neck).
Today I have a technical ability far beyond what I ever achieved playing the other way!
Talking to my sister about this recently, she recalled that, as a child, I drew etc with both hands, and nonone was sure which 'handedness' I was; apparently when I started school I was 'encouraged' to be right handed! That explains why I was always criticised for my handwriting!
Maybe this explains the guitar problems I had?
The strange thing was, after practicing guitar (left handed) for an extended period soon after switching, the oddest thing occured to me....
I felt this odd 'snapping' sensation in my brain where the entire world switched orientation... I was unable to know which hand to pick things up with, write etc, and everything literally felt like it was viewed in a mirror! This sensation subsided after about a day, but boy did it feel strange!
Anyway, apologies for the long post! :)
This odd feeling subsided after
This is great! Thoroughly enjoyed this light-hearted gem on Lefties! Wouldn't everyone love to be ambidextrous? I am so dominantly right handed, I'm not even able to perform the simplest task with my left. Tried to comb my hair with my left & got the comb all tangled in my hair.......brush my teeth with my left? I nearly poked a hole in my cheek...
Two right-handed sons, one ambidextrous and my eldest is a south paw who plays golf right-handed....go figure. It's all so interesting and certainly a topic for animated discussion....
Great work Billie....can't wait to read more...UP+++shared& tweeted.
Billie, just a few musings from my left-handed family: My grandfather was a school teacher and when he saw my mother writing left-handed, he made her switch to her right hand. She was able to develop a nice penmanship with her right hand, though.
My ex-husband is left-handed, and whenever we ate somewhere that we had to sit side by side, we always made sure that his left hand and my right hand were on the outside, even if it broke “proper” etiquette. That way we didn’t beat each other to death at the dinner table.
Our oldest son is left-handed. He fussed about the right-handed desks in school, and I told him to request a left-handed desk because I remembered that our classrooms always had at least two per room. He did and they accommodated him. He was delirious the day I bought him some left-handed scissors. He thinks left-handers are smarter than right-handers because his brother is right-handed.
I envied the beautiful backhand that two of my left-handed friends wrote, and I tried to copy them. All it did was get me a slap on the ear from my penmanship teacher.
Anyway, there are a lot of things that I do with my left hand, including learning to write with it, but I wouldn’t call myself ambidextrous. I just can’t learn to use my mouse with my left hand. I need to learn because I could switch and hopefully stop getting “mouse elbow” in my right arm.
Anyway, great hub, and there is no way I can be prejudiced against left-handed people. Voted up and funny.
Informative post.
I am married to the man who at one time was the only left handed student in the Chicago diocese. ( Early 60's.)
there are many celebrities who left handed and they are still popular.
Way too funny and I could relate to them all. I love being left-handed, but I don't think I did in elementary school...all the desks were for right-handers. :)
This is so cute and charming! Two out of my four children are left-handed and they have such a sense of humour about it! I could see all their oops moments when reading your hub. Thanks for the chuckle.
Kim
This is such a witty article. All three of my children are leftys, while my husband and I are both right-handed. I discovered that Lefty store at Pier 39 a few years ago and I bought scissors and notebooks. I just downloaded your Lucky book and I can't wait to read it with them.
Well, it gives me more options, like using the closest hand to an object I want to use :)
I'm ambidextrous, although my first grade teacher tried to train it out of me, as it it were evil - an almost succeeded. Jars only open when I use my left hand but I can bat (softball) either left or right; print; and cut paper and cloth; and do many other things with either hand. I wish I could put the computer mouse in between my two hands, so I probably need a raised platform above the keyboard for that. Great Hub.
Not a leftie, but I don't hold my pen correctly. I never have and when teachers tried to correct me I'd politely listen and then go back to writing the way I wanted to. Not sure what that says about me, other than that I was a rebel from early on. But enough about me ! Funny and interesting and entertaining. Voted up and sharing.
Being a fully fledged southpaw myself I can say that its the darn tin opener that gets me! I have been known to throw it at the wall before now! not that it does any good but it makes me feel better! lol! loved this, funny stuff!
Ya got me, now standing up. I am a left hander, that too, got their knuckles rapped with, no, can't do it that way. Then I heard this story one day. Way back when before there were the sanitary things we do now, right hands were for shaking hands and left hands were for wiping off after visiting the out house....Oh my, no wonder whenever I used my left hand it got slapped and made people cry. I sure wish now that when I asked why, an answer they would have given me. Yet, I am glad they did not, would have made it harder for me to claim my left handedness. Thanks mostly because I never liked trying to spell or say ambidextrous, anyway!
At one time my husband was the only left handed kid in the Chicago diocese. It's a long story, but his dad took it to the bishop. My brothers are left handed. I am supposed to be right handed, but with two children and a husband that are left handed I can do plenty left handed. Fun article.
Wow, interesting article. I always thought I was supposed to be left handed when I was a kid, but I was taught to be right handed. Now when I learn to do a new task or action, I seem to learn to do it quicker with my left hand. And my left eye is dominant. Now I'm proud to say I'm a lefty!
People are always telling me that I look like I'm struggling, when I'm not. Apparently they can't realize I'm doing the samething they are, just opposite. Someone the otherday asked me if it sucks to have a hard time writing because I'm a lefty, apparently this guy was under the impression that all lefties hook their hands to write. I said, 'umm, no, I just tilt the paper."
I was raised right handed, but I think I might be left. Any advice to fix my moms wrongs in teaching me? I want to relearn left handed!
Ha ha! Lucky they know you're weird!
Billie, I just saw the notification about the latest comment(s) and came to see what they were. I'm definitely a "right-leg-first" person. Here's one that someone raised on TV the other day: How about phone hand and ear? In keeping with my own right-handed left-handedness, I absolutely have to use the right hand and ear for the phone. Then again, though, the right-handed friend I asked also prefers the right hand/ear. I'd say, "I'm so confused!", but I guess I've made peace with the fact that I'm a right-handed person who writes (and sometimes eats/sews) with the left hand. Well, actually, I do remain a little confused. :)
Hi Billie,
I read in a trivia quiz that you could tell if a person was right or left-handed by what foot they put into their trousers first. Could this be true? I am right-handed and the right leg always gets dressed first.
I'm ambidexturous! LOL! Actually, my Kinder teacher thought and said it was evil to write with your left hand and forced me to write with my write hand, unbeknownst to my mother. Although I write with my right hand, I throw with my left, kick with my left, bowl with my left, but eat with my right! My mug has the writing on the outside when I hold it with my left, but it's not a 99 cent mug, it's a namebrand... maybe they are left-handed! LOL!
Ah, Billie, it's all coming clear to me now! lol. Great hub. Voted up!
This was clever and fun. I enjoyed it. As far as pickle jars go, I've never really noticed a problem opening them left-handed. Cork screws: Believe it or not (and I can't believe a "feminist type" like me is about to say this), a guy has always opened the wine/champagne. I've never used one. (Maybe because I buy the screw-top kind of wine for my own, private, use - but I did once try to use a corkscrew on one of those.) :) :) But I digress...
I don't question that some people who think they're "ambi" have just adapted, but I can vouch, first hand, that that's not always the case for some "ambi" (or at least partially "ambi", like I am) people. So much right-handed thinking/preferences/weakness (on the left side) makes me know I'm kind of a "right-handed person in a left-handed-writer's body". I'm "bothie" with some things like eating, hand sewing, ironing, and tennis; but I sometimes temporarily don't know which one feels right to use. I don't even write the traditional left-handed writing way. (I just write in right-slanted bad penmanship.) Even with all that (and my complete lack of creativity ordinarily associated with lefties), I couldn't think of myself as anything but a "leftie" because, as you say, writing with the left hand is kind of club; and you either belong to it or don't. Other than the hand, my entire left side is the weaker side. I call myself a "leftie", but I'm really a person without a true, consistent, handedness.
This is a great hub! My son and I were JUST talking about this the other day. He writes with the 'south paw' but does everything else right handed. I will share this! He claims the ambidextrous thing. I remember that when he was little he had a lot of tripping and falling accidents.
Yes. I am constantly putting the knives in the knife block "backwards," according to my right handed husband. I remember when someone tried to teach me to knit right-handed. Disaster! Then she tried to teach me left-handed by havin me mirror her technique. Needless to say I taught myself to crochet when I was an adult, and I don't knit. I always wondered why opening wine was a challenge. It didn't occur to me that the corkscrew was "backwards" for me. School notebooks were always a big challenge, and I constantly had ink smeared on my hand from note taking. I never did master that upside down handwriting technique that my left-handed music teacher seemed so brilliant at. Oh well, a little ink never hurt me. I love being a lefty. It makes life a little more interesting and quirky. Plus, I'm a lefty, so you know, that makes me brilliant ;)
I once had an art teacher who everyone hated. He was obnoxious and mean. But he was the only person ever in the whole world who paused to show me how do draw with the charcoal. He had been so precise with instruction for righties. He has to take a moment to try to figure it all out. I was 40 at the time. Though lots of people dropped out of his class because he was such a nut, he was A # 1 in my book!
Loved the hub!
What a witty read! One of my four daughters is left handed and when we go out to eat she is cautious as to where she sits at the table for fear of spilling on the next person. I have read that super intelligent people are left handed, and it was interesting to see the names of those people who are left handed. She is a barber, and she cuts hair with either hand.
Voted Up, and shared.
Cute - the barrette thing with you and your daughter! It amuses me for some reason to have learned that they're right-handed when it was something I never would have suspected. Good for your Mom! I DO know President Obama is left-handed. I have a free podcast at www.podiobooks.com under "essays" then "Live from Milwaukee It's Tuesday Night. It's the 10th one I think "The Fight for Molly Dooker Day" - way too long and needs revision, but I think you'll like it. Email me and I'll send you a free activation code if you'd like for my ebook "Lucky, the Left-Pawed Puppy". Thanks so much for commenting. PS. International Left-handers Day is coming up - Aug. 13. We just visited "Lefty's in SF" which is a left-handed store - FUN!
yes we're a great group of people. I had an "old-school" type of 1st grade teacher who tried to change me to right, but my mom set her straight. And I'm not sure if I missed it in your hub, but Obama is left too.
I've got the barette issue- even when doing my daughter's hair.
Thank you Brian! 3 "love-its" in one place. Must be John and his family
Love it! Love it!! Love it!!!
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