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The Left-Hander’s Dilemma

The Left-Hander’s Dilemma
October 17, 2015 Ho‘oulu Staff
In Opinion

By Hannah Nakashima

I’m at work, sitting behind the reception desk in front of the computer. The stillness is broken by the phone’s quiet ringing. My left hand is going for a pen and paper just in case I have to take down a message. I reach for the phone with my right hand, but it’s on the left side of the computer. I awkwardly do a quick cross of the arms so my right hand can reach the phone.

But by the time I pick up the phone, the caller has hung up and my arms are twisted in a pretzel.

This is just one of the small inconveniences of being left-handed. Ninety percent of the world’s population is right-handed, and as a result, everything is organized and made for right-handed people. Right from the start, left-handed people have been ostracized.

In fact, for a very long time, left-handed people were thought to be Satanists (thankfully, we have moved on from this mindset). There are not many problems with being left-handed anymore, though it sometimes makes it hard to interact with others and perform certain tasks when you’re trying to do everything “opposite” or “backwards.”

According to LeftHandedChildren.org, it’s harder for lefties to learn how to do certain things–because when something is demonstrated to us, it is done right-handed.

We have to learn the process the right-handed way and then turn it around for ourselves. It’s a tedious process, using trial and error to figure it all out. Because of this, it’s possible that some people assume that left-handed people aren’t as smart as right-handed people.

This happens all the time, especially in schools where the majority of things are unconsciously made for right-handers. For example, school desks are made for right-handed students. The desks are made with the support on the right side; these desks alone present a few problems for the left-handed student.

Also, these desks force left-handed students to twist awkwardly in their seats, which can result in lower back pain. Because of the awkward positioning, a leftie will often have to write slower—this is a big problem when taking notes or a timed paper test.

According to a survey conducted by the Left Handers Club, about 71 percent of left-handed students have difficulty in school and 76 percent of these students received no assistance to fix the problem. There’s a simple solution to these problems, such as moving a left-handed desk near the front of the class or by offering left-handed scissors.

Lefties go their entire lives adjusting themselves to adapt to this right-handed world. Playing an instrument, something that should be fun, turns into a problem, too. A leftie either has to learn to play with their non-dominant hand or spend $100 or more to get a specially made instrument. Or you can do what Jimi Hendrix did: he was left-handed guitarist who strung his guitar upside down in order to be able to play it.

Left-handed people literally see the world differently than right-handed people. They concentrate on different things, see things “backwards” and their point of reference is always slightly off from that of right-handed people. Left-handed people aren’t dumb. They simply do things slower and ask that you be willing to take the time to make sure they fully understand things.

Being slow isn’t being dumb; it’s merely being careful and constructive.

How else would we be able to do the devil’s handiwork?

 

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