"What is the worst thing about being left-handed?"
Take Your Pick...But Mainly Scissors...
"The smudging is annoying."
"The right-handed desks suck."
"But it’s scissors, man."
"F*cking scissors."- Icy_Mortgage6654
Sucks The Joy Out Of Morning Coffee
"All the cute designs on mugs are only visible for right handed people."- jdon93
Baking Complications
"Measuring cup labels are on the other side when I use my left hand."- maninthemoonpie
Great British Baking Show GIF by PBSGiphyGood Penmanship Is Futile
"Fountain pens, and pencils."
"F*cking hate smudges."- deanfranz12
"When you write, you have to put your whole arm on the paper because you are actively pushing it."
"Whereas right handed people just have to apply a little force not to pull the paper."- iStealP
To Assume Makes An A** Out Of You And Me...
"When someone tries to teach you how to play guitar, line up a pool cue, shoot a bow and arrow, and they can’t because you’re left-handed."- aeowyn7
Dougie Payne Guitar GIF by TravisGiphyAt Least Some Progress Has Been Made...
"My grandad was left-handed."
"He went to a catholic school, this was in the 1930s/early 1940s UK, and the nuns would tie his left hand behind him and hit him until he wrote with his right hand."
"They said that it was a ‘sign of the devil’ if someone was left-handed."
"So cruel."- miz_moon
Might As Well Be Dying...
"Hearing the following words:"
"'Ohhh you're left handed!'"
"It becomes grating after the 1000th time of hearing it."- redbutterfly_78
In All Seriousness, It's Worse Than You Think...
"Left handed people aren't taught how to write as lefties, they are taught as if they are right handed."
"Pens tips are designed for right handed people, especially ballpoint and fountain pens."
"But even others work less efficiently for lefties."
"This is because we have to push the pen across the page, whereas they are pulling it."
"This causes frequent breaks in pencil tips, catching of nibs, and this ink/graphite will be rubbed against the lefties' hands, often ruining their writing."
"In addition, this pushing motion means there is pressure going into the hand of the lefty, trying to push the pen into their grip."
"As a result, they have to squeeze tightly."
"This reduces control of the pen, leading to bad handwriting and pain after even short periods."
"I know doing exams was awful for the lefties."
"Handwriting is for right handed people."
"Pretty obvious, you are taught a way to move your hand to get the shapes of letters, but lefties aren't taught the opposite."
"They are just left to figure it out, but these kids don't know what they are doing wrong."
"A lack of equipment for lefties, whether it is left handed scissors or desks or sharpeners."
"It may seem trivial, but these little things can make a leftie feel weird or like their can't figure out even the tiny little things that everyone else is getting so quickly."
"The effects:"
"This is a cause of lefties craning their wrists round so that they don't smudge and get a better pulling motion."
"As well as craning wrists, some may lean round, or massively rotate their page just so it isn't in the way, but no one taught them these solutions."
"Bad handwriting."
"Lack of confidence, which affects schoolwork and how the kid see his/herself."
"It may be the kid simply can't do what their classmates can do, despite trying his/her hardest."
"Uncomfortable positions causing pain in the neck, back and wrist."
"There are some, very small, organizations that have developed ways to properly teach left handed children how to sit and write comfortably."
"It usually involves angling the page slightly, but clockwise, whereas most lefties angle it anti-clockwise."
"I'd gladly volunteer my time to teach left-handed kids how to write."- untakenu
Left-handed people have to take the good and the bad much more than right-handed people.
However, considering Mark Twain, Albert Einstein and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were all left-handed, it seems that it's easy to make the most of the disadvantage.
Right handed people have it easy.
Redditor u/u/BadlySpeltBouy asked, "What are the perks and downsides of being left handed that no one talks about?"
Left handed Redditor's gave us a glimpse into the world of inconvenience that they face. Right handed people don't realize how every product and device is made for them to use easily, while lefties must adapt or hope someone invents an alternative for them. Still, there are some perks to being left handed.
10. My school had an odd abundance of left-handed desks
"The worst is when you're in a classroom that has those single chair/desk combo. They're all right handed making it super hard to make notes. Sometimes there's a token left handed one in a random place in the classroom where you don't particularly want to sit."
9. Grade school scissors are everyone’s enemy
"Spiral notebooks are your enemy, as well as grade school scissors. You can always use the excuse to use the teachers scissors though, they were always better anyway."
8. Lefties make good fighters
Giphy"In combat sports, left handers are more likely to win because everyone's been training against right handers and facing left handers is kind of rare. Manny Paquiao and Tenshin Nasukawa come to mind of famous southpaws. Keep in mind some right handers also choose to fight in 'left handed' stance too."
7. A right handed person would never notice
"The jagged teeth on printers for receipts and things are designed to be used by the right hand."
6. I’m guilty of saying this
Giphy"Everytime someone sees you write something you get to hear, 'Oh, you're a leftie huh?"
5. It puts a damper on writing
"Downside is I always smudge my pencil/ink if im writing something especially if my hands are a lil sweaty"
4. It really is a right-handed world...
"All tools are made for right handers.
All thumb buttons are on the wrong side of handles.
Meat slicers and all one handed operation machines are right hand operation only.
Guns eject spent casing in your face and safety you often have to reach around the gun in an awkward manner.
I could go on and on. We live in a right handed word, lefties just visit it clumsily."
3. Even a dinner party is difficult
"I always have to be quick to sit down at a dinner table. Unless I get a spot on the left side of the table (as you face it) or the end I bump elbows with others at the table. It can seem rude but it works best for everyone."
2. It runs in the family
"I never had to share my softball glove cause no one could ever use it...but it was hard to find a glove to buy period.
My daughter is also left handed and for whatever reason I love that she is."
1. Holding hands isn't inconvenient
"My boyfriend and I can hold hands and both use our dominant hands for stuff"
Arguably one of the best depictions of left-handed people is Ned Flanders from The Simpsons. In the show, he opens his "Leftorium", which unfortunately goes out of business pretty quickly. Similar struggles exist for left-handed people in the non-cartoon world, and are continually ignored in a predominantly right-handed world.
u/SergeantGroosh asked: Left handed people, what are some hurdles you face in a a right handed dominant world?
A whole different method.
Having to teach myself how to hold a pencil. In Ms. Clayton's defense, I don't think she'd ever had a leftie in her class before, but I basically had to figure it out on my own.
Should also mention, the way you write with the left hand is WAY different than how you write with the right since you push the pencil instead of pulling it.
The struggle.
GiphyWhen the delivery guy needs a signature and tries to force the pen into your right hand.
And attached pens with chains too short to reach the left side.
Most don't even think about that.
Having to use your non-dominant hand for handshakes, scissors, notebooks with large rings, inky pens (getting it all over the side of your hand/pinkie finger), phone apps optimised for the right hand, writing on whiteboards without rubbing off the pen.
Some people are a**holes.
GiphyDoes anyone else find that they have left and right handed ways of doing things? For instance, I write left handed, throw left handed, but bat and golf right handed, and use right handed scissors. Although archery is left handed. But screw those desks in school with the arm rest on the right side.
I once found a desk in one class with a left side armrest but someone was already sitting in it. When I asked if I could sit there as I'm left handed and made for people like me he was like, "screw you I got here first." Then proceeded to always complain about how his right arm got tired all the time.
That's annoying.
"WhOa, YoU'rE lEfT haNdEd?!?!?!?!"
-People you've known for years and have said this to you several times over the years.
That must be difficult.
Currently, as the only person that's left-handed in my household, it's learning how to crochet and knit. My mom does both a lot, and has tried to teach me quite a few times, but I can't get the hang of it since I'm trying to copy what she's doing but "backwards."
Otherwise, I have the distinct memory in middle school where I was all alone at a station for the golf segment of P.E. because they only had one lefty club and I was the only left handed person in that group of kids. That, and finding a lefty baseball mitt was weird because other kids would take it not thinking about it.
It's not a quirk.
GiphyScissors is a big one.
Also getting graphite or ink on your hand from writing.
Everything is right hand - oriented. Everything from cars to doors, to placement of trash cans, you don't really realize these things until you do.
Also my left-handedness being seen as some kind of crazy quirk.
Oof.
Trying to sign an office birthday card without smudging what everybody else has written.
Oh no!
My wife and I are both left handed and have 2 right handed daughters. Needless to say, they did not get a head start on learning to write.