There are very few people who are left-handed, but it’s really a struggle when it comes to being left-handed. I’m writing this because I’m left-handed and I know a few people who are also left-handed, and it’s a struggle, to say the least.
The History of Being Left-Handed
As TIME explained in 1969, “southpaws, gallock-handers, chickie paws and scrammies” were seen as sinister—literally since the word means “left”—for centuries. One reason that suspicion could have possibly occurred, TIME suggested, was that it was less complicated than anything having to do anything with evil spirits. At the time lefties had very few options in terms of everyday items, handiness from sports equipment, to kitchen items, and most things are designed to be held in one direction.
11 Everyday Tasks That Are Tricky For Left-Handed People
There are many things that we, people who are left-handed, struggle with.
- Using Scissors:
Unless you order a special pair of left-handed scissors, cutting up paper can be very frustrating. Scissors normally have blades with distinct handles, including one for the thumb, and for left-handed scissors, lefties would normally get their thumb stuck in the scissors because they are holding it upside down.
- Writing:
When it comes to writing your hand goes over the pen or pencil, whatever you’re using, and then when you look at your hand your hand is covered in lead or ink, and it’s just a mess. It’s really annoying as well. Writing in three-ringed binders, and notebooks are also a struggle because the spine makes it difficult to rest your hand on a smooth surface, or when you’re in class and you’re sitting on the right of someone who is right-handed and it makes it difficult to write because you’re constantly bumping your neighbor.
- Eating with other people:
If you know anyone who eats alone ask them about their dominant hand. This is because if they are using their left hand to dig into food it means that they are engaging in a constant battle with the person who’s on their left side using their right arm.
- Walking:
When trying to cross paths with someone or even walking in the hallway, people who are left-handed tend to lean into their dominant side putting them in front of each other again.
- Banking:
To make sure that the bank’s pens don’t get lost or stolen, most of the time, banks will tie them to a flimsy chain on a table, and it’s non-invasive for right-handed people, so left-handed people are forced to sign checks with a chain against their hand movement. This can happen anywhere. Not just in banks.
- Getting Dressed:
The zippers on jeans, coats, and other apparel normally open on the right side, and it creates a barrier of entry for lefties. Buttons escalate the difficulty.
- Measuring Things:
Glass or plastic serving cups normally print their measurements to the left of the cup, left-handed people who hold the cups with their left hand have trouble reading the measurements, so they have to hold it with their right hand.
- Car Cup Holders:
Most lefties get used to shifting with their right hand, but it is still really awkward to try and get your water bottle or whatever you have from the right side of the driver’s seat.
- Using a Can Opener:
Using a can opener is so hard! Manual can openers favor right-handed operation. This means that lefties were forced to either obscure the knob with their left or move in the opposite direction. The same thing goes for potato peelers as well.
- Painting one’s nails:
Most day-to-day tasks are modified or least tolerated by left-handed people. When it comes to painting your own nails normally your left hand becomes a mess, and this is also the same for right-handed people. So in some ways, right-handed people get a taste of left-handed people’s medicine.
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