As of 2017, there are a total of 7.6 billion people that make up our world population. Out of these, only 12 percent are left-handed. One reason for this is because the left-handed gene is recessive and less likely to show up when passed down from generation to generation
According to leftyfretz.com, what many don’t know is that one of the other contributions to this low number is that people in North America and Western Europe still struggle with social discriminations, all because of the hand they choose to write their name with...crazy, right?
Since the majority of our population is right-handed, 87 percent to be exact, us lefties are stuck living in a right-handed world. From having to learn sports, play instruments or even to write, these tasks are not the easiest of adjustments that a lefty has to make in order to do it well.
For all of my fellow lefties out there, and righties who just want to learn a little more about what we go through, here are some of the struggles we face living in a “Right-Handed World.”
1. The dreaded pen/pencil smudges on the side of our hands
This has to be the worst one! From filling out a birthday card for a loved one to taking notes in class, we either have this dreaded black mess all over our hand or the pen’s ink smudging, duplicating our words and getting excess ink all over the birthday card the person we’re giving it to is probably going to show everyone.
2. When scissors don’t cut unless we turn them over, or simply just won’t cut at all
We know left-handed scissors exist, but why take the extra time of finding them? Mostly, we can only find left-handed scissors in an online shop or at an office supply store, like Staples.
Even with purchasing from these places, in the majority, you still have to order them online. I mean, taking extra time or having to switch hands to cut paper is apparently exactly what we want to do. It’s not that we’re lazy, but cutting with “normal” scissors can be a pain.
3. Even playing sports is difficult
Growing up, gym classes usually don’t have both a right and left-handed teacher. So when playing sports, like baseball or tennis, when we would have a right-handed teacher, who doesn’t already swing left-handed, this left us lefties either having to teach ourselves how to swing left-handed or to simply play reverse-lefty [swinging the bat or the racket right-handed].
4. Writing on whiteboards in front of the class tends to be embarrassing
When being left-handed, writing on whiteboards takes some practice and slight adjusting in order to not erase or make marks. As we write, we use just a simple angling of our hands, or as they say, a flick of the wrist, to make our words as legible as possible.
5. The dreaded daggering of binder rings and notebook spirals
Clearly, inventors did not think clearly, at first, when inventing notebooks and binders. As we write things down, lefties have to deal with the pain of being stabbed in the sides of our hands by the spirals of notebooks and binder rings, making us have to turn on an angle in order to write painlessly.
6. Playing instruments is also an interesting experience
When first picking up a new musical instrument, mostly guitars and other string instruments, we tend to struggle, at first, on how to actually play it. After some practice, we either learn how to play left-handed or simply take the route of learning to play, like sports, reverse-lefty.
7. Or the moments when people are “shocked” because you have “really nice handwriting.”
Apparently, we’ve received the stereotype that the majority of left-handed people have really terrible handwriting. So when people see us write, they’re surprised to see it’s not as bad after all. Plus, there most likely are right-handed people who have bad handwriting too, so both right and left-handers can sort of relate to this one.
8. Last but not least, our personal favorite, “Wow, you’re left-handed?!”
People get oddly excited when they see us writing with our left hands, which the reason will always remain a mystery for us. Some of our closest friends and family sometimes even take years before they, one day, randomly discover that, yes, we’re left-handed.
We''re not pointing these things out to offend anyone, but to simply make those aware of the obstacles that left-handers sometimes face. So even though we can be a bit different, just because we're left-handed doesn't make us any less awesome as you are.
Lefties unite!
