It's Right to be Left

August 13th is International Left Handers Day! Whoohoo!!!

As a lefty myself, I appreciate a day to honor all that is right about being left. Actually, if it weren't for an article in The Washington Post last Friday, the day would have slipped by unnoticed by me.

The article Left Over? Left Out? talks about some of the difficulties that left-handed people (especially kids) encounter--such as that writing with pen tends to leave us with smeared ink all over our hands. That's probably my biggest gripe about being left-handed. I never had to deal with people or teachers trying to get me to use my right hand instead of my left when I was growing up. Although my Dad used to constantly say to me when watching me do my homework: "I don't know how ANYONE writes with their left hand!" I do have that crab-like style of curling my hand around--it looks like I'm writing upside down!

In additional to the article about our day of recognition, The Post also had an article titled More Evidence Lefties have the Right Stuff. (Must've been a slow news day!) Apparently left-handed men are more likely to stay in school and out-earn their right-handed counterparts.

Lefties represent only about 13% of the population--but more males are left-handed than females, so that makes ME doubly special!

International Left Handers Day was instituted in 1992 by--who else?--the Left Handers Club. Their website is full of fun factoids about the pros and cons of left-handed life.

Pros:

Lefties are generally right-brained--making us more creative and visual thinkers
Lefties are generally more intelligent than right-handed people
Lefties are definitely sexier and more attractive than people who use their right hand. (OK, I made that last one up!)

Cons:

Apparently lefties are more accident-prone and therefore have a shorter life span.

Ah well! You can't have everything...

But you CAN have anything from left-handed notebooks to left-handed scissors--there are numerous products designed to make being a lefty easier! A long time ago, I was working for a guy who resold sound equipment--specifically for musicians. Anyway, one time this guy called up and asked him if he had any left-handed guitars. He said, "No, but I could sell you a left-handed amp..." The lefty on the phone was not amused. But most of us left-handers have awesome senses of humor!

So hooray for lefties! We're better than "all right"--we're ALL LEFT!