Friday, January 30, 2009

A post written with both hands


Yes, I confess. I am a Lefty.

I am one of five children, all of whom displayed an early tendancy for the left appendage.

My grandmother (paternal) told my Dad: "Left-handed people have a hard time getting along in a right-handed world."

So, every time any of my three sisters or brother started picking up a crayon, fork, ball, with their left hands, my parents would gently admonish them, and they "encouraged" use of their right hands. I now have four right-handed siblings.

I'm the only hold-out. But as a result of all my parents' valiant efforts to save me from a life of left-handed misery, I am pretty much ambidextrous.

Some things you "rightys" out there might not even think about:

  • Most door knobs and locks are on the right side of any door.
  • People give oaths raising their right hand.
  • Musical instruments are all made for right-handed people (even the piano; the majority of the scale is played with the right hand).
  • People shake hands with the right hand.
  • Mouse(s) for computers are geared (and in some cases molded) toward right-handed use.
  • Good things are done by the "Right Hand of God".
  • To be seated to the right of someone in power is considered a compliment.
  • Scissors are (generally) made for right-handed people; as the only left-handed child in my grade school class, there was only one pair of left-handed scissors and they went in a separate box :( .
  • Spiral bound notebooks are made for right-handed people.
  • Power buttons tend to be on the right side of things with a power button.
  • Light switches in rooms tend to be on the right side in the door (as you face out of a room).

I'm not asking for pity; but do one thing.

Try to use your mouse with your left hand (if you're right-handed).

That's how the world feels to me every day (but I'm used to it by age 37).

I wonder if the whole right-brain, left brain thing is true? Check it out; it's pretty cool.

I wonder what it means for someone like me who's ambidextrous?

Happy Friday

12 comments:

Arlene January 30, 2009 at 12:24 PM  

I'm the same as you Ambi whatsis. The only things I have to do with my left hand is write, eat and I bat lefty. Everything else is with the right. My dad and I are the only leftys except his parents tied his left hand round his back to get him to write with his right. How cruel. I think people like us might have an unusual view of the world and we tend to think out of the box. Not a bad thing. Also leftys are supposed to be very creative. Be proud to be a lefty, we are special, and not in the way Americans generally like to say!

Stacy Hackenberg January 30, 2009 at 12:40 PM  

I looked at your link and I have to say, how the hell do make the dancer turn the other way? I saw her going clockwise and damned if I know how to make her turn the other way. My husband is left handed (and a Tom, like yours) but he is very left-brained. Logical, attention to detail. I am very right brained. I see the whole picture and am very visual. I give this example as the most effective description of how different our brains work: When we were first married and hanging pictures in our apartment, we would each take one of a series and place them equidistant and on the same level from some given point. To do this, Tom would pull out a ruler and measure. I would pop the picture on the wall, get a visual reference and eyeball it. We both got it right.

Our Eldest is that rarity: she's whole brained. We did the test with the glass half full/half empty once in Brownies as part of some badge. The idea was to go around the circle and have the girls raise their hands if they thought it was half full and then if they thought it was half empty. Eldest didn't raise her hand. She saw at age 7, I believe, that it was both. You should have seen my co-leaders face. She ruined the lesson.

Sorry for the book, but living with a lefty and having looked into the whole left brain/right brain/whole brain issue, I just had to go on... and on... and on.

skyewriter January 30, 2009 at 12:48 PM  

Arlene:
I agree whole-heartedly.

I love being a lefty.

Like you, I write and eat left handed, but I do everything else (from tennis to cutting with scissors) as a righty.

It's interesting, too, because there's quite a few lefties in my nieces and nephews, too.

Indeed it is cruel what used to happen to left-handed children in the past.

I think we're special, too. :)

Thanks as ever for stopping by.

True Blue:
Where have you been? I was starting to get worried...

To get the dancer to turn the other way, set your gaze on the text to the left of the image and try to focus on the shadow at her feet. She should start spinning the other way.

The Tom here with me is very meticulous; altho' he's right handed. I chuck it up to the fact that he's a scientist to. the. hard. (and sweet) core.

He has to measure everything.

Nice to hear from you, too!

Stacy Hackenberg January 30, 2009 at 1:50 PM  

Ok, she did for about half a second cause when I realized she'd jumped my focus shifted. I'm really no good at the magic eye type things though I can usually she both images in an optical illusion.

My Tom is an engineer. He can go on and on about ICs and semiconductor whatsits and my eyes just glaze over. I try to nod at the appropriate places and not look too bored. Buying anything electronic or computer related also results in lots of tech-speak that I only barely follow. I feel like I'm dog-paddling madly sometimes just to keep my head above water. I must be doing a decent job of nodding at the right time cause he just keeps babbling away. Maybe he thinks that I'll learn it through osmosis.

Shady Lady January 30, 2009 at 2:05 PM  

I should have known! I too am a lefty, although I have ambidextrous tendencies.

I write, eat, sew (badly), crochet and other needle work left handed. I bat, bowl, tennis, scissor & knit right handed.

Mommy-hood made me even more ambidextrous. I learned to eat right handed and even write a bit right handed out of necessity.

Also, lefties tend to notice other lefties. Our new president just happens to be a lefty.

skyewriter January 30, 2009 at 2:07 PM  

I have NEVER been able to see the whatsit in the hidden eye thingys.

So frustrating.

Yup, my Tom is the same way about electronics purchases.

I hate shopping anyway, but when we needed a new desktop and laptop I had to go with him.

Nightmare. Totally my worst nightmare in terms of jargon, tech-speak gobbledygook.

I nod a lot, too.

skyewriter January 30, 2009 at 2:08 PM  

Lefties of a feather flock together!

(Or something like that. I'm not calling ANYONE a bird :)

Anonymous,  January 30, 2009 at 7:48 PM  

Hey I really liked the link. Thta was really fun. there are lefties and righties in my family. Most lawyers are left brained. i am a weird combination of both because i am meticulous and detailed, but also creative and see the big picture.

Yhanks for the post!

Anonymous,  January 30, 2009 at 8:53 PM  

The Left side is the feminine, and the Subconscious. It is about subtleties, but that side of your body is run by the right side of the brain, hence the saying, "Only Left Handed People are in their Right Mind." And that you are ambidextrious, well thats just a bonus, that means that new Neural pathways were created when you began exercising that other side of your body and the left side of the brain. I too am Ambidextrious, especially when I paint. Maybe its that modality of riding Roman in your head and in mine, that makes the world so magical to us. I am a right handed person though.

Aliceson January 31, 2009 at 2:52 AM  

Another lefty here. I too only write lefty but most everything else righty. My biggest annoyance is that liquid measuring cups are made for righties. I'm always spinning the darn thing around. Oh, and spiral notebooks still bug me, I avoid them if possible.

Kas January 31, 2009 at 5:30 AM  

As someone who was born left-handed, was brought up to be right-handed and eventually found middle ground, I would say being left handed in a right-handed world is tough... but also a lot of fun. I was forced to write and eat with the right hand (in people my country India have this irrational belief that since the left hand is used to wipe the bum, it's dirty!?!). Everything else, from drawing to cricket to fistfights to cooking, I did with the left (I just am NOT dextrous with the right).

After my dominating right handed father passed away, I sneakily began eating with the left hand, and my left-handed elder brother and mother followed suit (talk about imitating children!).

Right now, I am getting myself to write with the left hand, and I must say, I feel freer than ever. The writing is neater too. My laptop touchpad is geared to the left. When friends use it to check email, they get so exasperated, it's funny. "Now you know what it feels like for us lefties," I tell them.

skyewriter January 31, 2009 at 3:25 PM  

When I got my laptop, I had a challenge using the mousepad.

I work really well with it now, tho'. Using two hands makes things go faster.

Thanks to all who stopped by and commented on my Friday-lite post.

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