Wow, was my last post really that long ago? Sorry, people. If you're reading these, please comment so I know you're out there! It would give me more motivation to write.
I thought I'd share some random thoughts about a part of me that I'm rather proud of: being left handed. *gives fists to all lefties in audience* Righties may not pay much attention to it, but there are a lot of things in this world that cater to righties and short lefties. Some are obvious, like computer mice, but I've noticed a few others.
Milk jugs. It's silly, but bear with me. The labels and handles on milk jugs were designed for righties. Try this simple experiment: go to the refrigerator and take out the milk jug with your right hand. The label is facing you, right? Now pick it up with your left hand. The label's on the far side of the jug now.
Pencils. You've probably heard this one, but it's true. I think once or twice in my life I've used a "left-handed" writing utensil, but generally, if you're writing with your left hand, you're used to not being able to read what's on the pencil.
Playing cards. This one maybe you haven't thought of. How do you hold playing cards? You probably fan them out with your left hand, fingers supporting the cards, and you play with your right hand. Some lefties I know do it this way. But try this, righties. Fan out some cards in your right hand, mirroring the way you do with your left. It doesn't work! You can't see the number in the top-right corner. Now I'm curious if anyone makes left-handed decks.
Despite these discriminations, some areas of life, while dominated by right-handers, give advantages to lefties. Often, these areas are in sports, where the unconventional move has the advantage.
Lefty baseball pitchers, or southpaws, have an advantage because their bodies block the throwing arm from the view of right-handed hitters, so they can't read the pitch as well. Lefty hitters have maybe three less feet to travel to first base than righties. That's a lot of saved time in baseball.
In volleyball, blockers expect the spike to come from the hitter's right hand. If the hitter is a lefty, they're in the wrong position. I have yet to find an advantage, however, with left-handed serving.
Left-handed fencers have the advantage simply because one doesn't fight a lefty every day. If you're not used to something a different way, you're probably weaker against it. Note: This is not why Inigo Montoya and the Dred Pirate Roberts were fighting left-handed.
So, in the grand scheme of things, maybe the good and the bad balance each other out. If you play sports. Lefties, do you have any pet-peeves of right-oriented things? Is there anything you do that being left handed gives you an advantage in? Please share!
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Haha, I had never thought of any of these before!
ReplyDeleteI'm semi-ambidextrous. I actually play cards holding them with my right, but our cards have the number on all 4 corners, so that isn't a problem for me. But now that I think of it, it wouldn't work for most decks.
In Canada, we don't have any of the problems with the labels, since they're on both sides for everything--French on one, and English on the other.
So if you're left handed you're more likely to understand French than righties. :)
Great entry!
Becca (from ECD at internats)