Southpaw Problems

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

I'm left-handed (very, very, very left-handed).  Honestly, I'm sort of proud to be a lefty, but there are some major obstacles.  Most right-handed people don't even realize how many things are specifically designed with handedness in mind.  Just a small list of my many troubles over the years:

• Scissors - using right-handed scissors is THE WORST!  The thumb-hole angle is all wrong and is pretty painful to use for very long.  I have a pair of lefty scissors that I got when I was in elementary school and I am very protective of them.  

• Sports - maybe I'm just uncoordinated (probably the case), but it was very difficult to learn sports when pretty much all of the coaches were right-handed.  In PE class, we all had to perfect a right-handed lay-up, even the lefties!  Not fair at all.  Equipment is also harder to find and usually more expensive.  A few years ago, I was interested in learning how to golf, and I had to buy a set of lefty clubs online, because I couldn't find any in stores (and I couldn't borrow any from all my righty friends).  In college, I played intramural softball, and I didn't have my old lefty mitt at school.  They said they had extra equipment available, but they didn't mention that the only lefty glove was no longer laced together (and also smelled funky).  I couldn't catch anything! 

• Writing - even if you find a lefty notebook (which I used all through school), writing is still a mess.  I don't hook my hand over the page like some lefties, so I almost always had ink stains on my hand and smeared writing on the paper.  In high school, my English teacher decided that we needed to hand-write our papers for a few months, instead of typing.  I still don't know the purpose of this other than to make my life miserable.  I frequently got points docked for sloppiness because the ink was smeared.  I wonder if life is easier for left-handed people who live in "right-to-left language" countries.  And don't even get me started about trying to write in a 3-ring binder! 

• Eating - at sit-down meals, I try to sit on the left end of the table, but it doesn't always work out.  When my neighbor and I inevitably bump elbows, everyone always blames the lefty.  

• Basic items - again, you've probably never noticed this, but several basic household items are made for right-handed people.  Can-openers, measuring cups, pencil sharpeners, tape measures. Even a plain old sauce pan is designed to pour out of the left side, meaning I have to use my weaker arm, or twist my left arm awkwardly to pour anything.  

• Desks - those stupid desks that pretty much make up every classroom from middle school through college.  There was usually 1 lefty desk in each classroom, but more than 1 lefty student.  True story, during my accounting final in college, I was sitting at a righty desk, and twisted sideways in the chair to write my answers.  In a moment of frustration (and back pain) I sat back regularly and propped my right elbow up on the desk, not realizing the catapult situation that would happen.  My calculator and pencil flew across the room.  So embarrassing.  I should have told that story the other day.  

• SAT/ACT discrimination - I hope this isn't a common occurrence.  When I went to take these big important tests, they corralled all the left-handed kids into a group.  I assumed they would take us to a magical room filled with left-handed desks.  No.  They took us to a dark, creepy room in the basement that still had long table desks.  It was pretty unnerving.  I maintain I would have scored higher if I had been in a normal room!  

So there's my big sob-story.  I try to make the best of it, and most of the time, it's not a big deal, but I like buying lefty-specific products when I see them!  Rumor has it that left-handed people have a life expectancy 9 years shorter than right-handed people, so that's sort of unpleasant.  It's probably because we have higher stress levels trying to work around this crazy right-handed world!  I also read somewhere that lefties have smarter kids, which I completely believe (my mom is left-handed, too!).  

close-up to prove the polka dots are stars

It's also Third Thursday Threads time!  The theme for this month is WORKWEAR, which is super easy, because most of my outfits are worn to work.  My office is pretty casual, so I decided to pick one of my dressier recent outfits.  I also learned that I shouldn't stand in front of red brick when I am wearing a coral cardigan, because it will look very orange.


Blouse: Alfani via Macy's
Cardigan and Skirt: Old Navy
Belt: Chinese Laundry via TJ Maxx
Shoes: Born via Dillard's