When a child is born, there is only a 10 percent chance that that child will be left-handed. The child that is born left-handed will be born into a world specifically designed and catering to the right-handed majority of the world.
It is something you never noticed as a right-handed person. Every day, from finish to start, the things that you come across – a pair of scissors, the door knob on your front door, and even the mouse plugged into the family computer – is made for a right-handed person. Of course, that would be difficult to notice as a right-handed person. We only notice when things go wrong, right?
Here are 9 struggles you notice as a left-handed person that would never be noticed by a right-handed person:
1. The handles of scissors curve in specifically to fit the right hand.
I have always hated cutting things out for projects, especially at school. Most places only have right-handed scissors. These scissors have a specific curvature to their handles that make it extremely comfortable to fit on the left hand. The entire time a lefty is cutting something out, that curvature is digging into their hands because it is going in the wrong direction for the left hand. This makes for a painful experience. For other scissors, it is just awkward. It is hard to hold the scissors in the left hand because the smaller hole meant for the thumb is on the wrong side. Unless the scissors are universal, flipping the scissors to fit to the left hand will not work. A lefty can always buy lefty scissors but there are typically rules against bringing sharp objects into certain places like schools.
2. Doors are easier to open with the right hand.
Doors are supposed to be opened by reaching the dominant hand across the body to grab the handle and reach the door toward yourself. This does not work for a left-handed person when the door handle is on the left side.
3. The mouse of a computer is usually to the right of the keyboard.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution for this one. On most computers today, the mouse can be moved to the other side of the computer to accommodate the left-hand or it is fairly easy to use the mouse right-handed.
4. Some lawn mowers are tricky to start with the left hand.
The first time I tried to mow the lawn for my mom I could not even get the lawn mower to start because there was a pull cord to start it and it was located on the right side of the mower. I am weak to begin with so putting the pull cord on the side of my non-dominant hand is not helpful. Luckily, many lawn mowers no longer have a pull cord to start them.
5. Try finding a desk that works for a left-handed person.
Every time I walk into a classroom it is a difficult hunt to find the one desk that is left-handed. Yes, there are left-handed desks but if a classroom has them – they are very limited. I can usually only find one or two.
6. Pens attached to a desk or an electronic device are typically on the right side.
So many times, I go to sign for a credit card and when I reach for the pen it will not reach to the left side. It is just an awkward situation and my signature always looks awful.
7. The lefty-smear
This is something that no left-handed device can solve. I smear pens and usually have a big ink stain on my hand. Sometimes, after writing a long essay, I would erase along the margins because the paper was no longer white where I had smeared pencil on the page. And, do not even get me started on trying to write with an erasable pen. I wrote a couple sentences in an erasable pen once – they were never to be seen again.
8. The lefty-slant
I do not write straight on a page. I never will. It is the curse of the lefty-slant
9. Anything specifically made for a lefty is more expensive.
This whole time, there have been simple solutions to lefty problems, like buying the left-handed version of that device. Yes – so simple. But, the left-handed version usually costs more. If it is an item like a baseball glove when you are eight and just want to play catch with your dad, it can be a substantial difference in cost. This is a sad but true reality for the left-handed person.
