Being left-handed means being in the minority of the population, with somewhere between five and ten percent of the world sharing in our struggles. This means that virtually everything is catered towards righties, from scissors to notebooks to desks, leaving us to either adjust to their demands or go without. These inconveniences may seem trivial to right-handers, but that's because the world is basically catered towards them. Let's review some of the small daily activities that righties don't have to think twice about, but us lefties must struggle through.
1. Writing: The color ink we choose can be quite a daunting task, considering it will be adorning our left pinky for the remainder of the day. Whether you're writing in pencil, pen, or marker, half of your writing will end up on your skin. The smudge of your letters can get a little irritating, and we even have to adjust our gripping technique from time to time to avoid those unsightly smudges. 
2. Desks: Whenever we walk into a lecture hall, there seems to be a collective sigh among those rare left-handers in the room. Writing becomes next to impossible with the tiny space given, and you end up getting a little too close for comfort to the person sitting next to you. Writing becomes an acrobatic skill involving the contortion of your body and ultra flexibility. 
3. Notebooks: Yet another thing that leaves lefties out in the cold. The jabbing of the spirals is a constant reminder that being a "rare and unique" left-hander is actually the most inconvenient trait in the world. We laugh in the face of those who think they're too good to use the backside of a notebook paper because that is our sanctuary. If we want to take this to another level, we'll discuss binders, which is basically like a spiral notebook on steroids. 
4. Bumping Elbows: It seemed that throughout elementary school, we were the ones that were always assigned to sit on the left side as a way to avoid the "elbow bump" with our classmates. Since the beginning of time, left-handers have been shifted around the classroom as a way to accommodate to our right-handed peers and blamed for the clash of elbows that comes with the territory. 
5. Scissors: A task as simple as cutting with scissors has been plagued with frustration for people with dominant left hands. While there are left-handed scissors out there, they are hard to come by, especially in classrooms and other public areas. If you're like me, you've learned to adapt and use scissors with your right hand, but the learning process was filled with plenty of blood, sweat, and tears, not to mention a few scares and nearly severed fingers. 
Left-handers have taken the road less traveled, so we have had to pave our own way when it comes to the simple tasks of everyday life. While these inconveniences may get a little old, there's nothing wrong with embracing our uniqueness. After all, only ten percent of the world can claim their left-handedness, including Oprah Winfrey and Prince William, so we're in pretty good company.
