Joleigh Jackson
Left-handedness only makes up 10 percent of the world’s population, so I feel very fortunate to be a part of the left-handed community. While I am so lucky to be left-handed, the things we face on a daily basis are the most annoying. With how much technology has advanced, you would think there’s a viable solution to these problems. I could go on for days about the struggles faced with being left-handed but here are the top reasons being left-handed is annoying.
There should be no reason on this planet why writing in a notebook should be so infuriating but somehow it is. When you’re left-handed and you write with a pen, you have to push the pen away from your hand. It creates bad ink flow so the pen tip is more than likely going to skip and the line will break. Righties, I need you to imagine what it’s like writing in a notebook and having to put your entire arm over the spirals just to be able to feel somewhat comfortable. When us left-handed people write we can’t see what we’re writing so we don’t know if we made a mistake. When our hands cover the words we smear our writing and get something called silver surfer syndrome, which is when the lead from a pencil gets on the side of our hand, leaving it silver. Or, if you write with a pen it leaves ink.
If you’re left-handed like me, and you have an almost all right-handed family, going out to eat with them is a funny experience. As a lefty in order for you to not go in an all out war with your elbows you have to strategically plan where you sit so you don’t accidentally bump into your family member. Yes, I know you’re not supposed to have your elbows on the table in the first place but if you don’t judge me I won’t judge you. Similarly, in elementary school the desks were so close together and there was so little room and as a lefty you become self conscious that you’re gonna run into someone with your elbows. I just want all righties to know that if you’re sitting at a desk and someone bumps into you with their elbows don’t assume that person did it to irritate you, they may just be a lefty who was probably trying to avoid what just happened.
I am truly so thankful to have never played an instrument because it’s truly life’s biggest scam for lefties. For any right handed people who don’t know, most instruments are for righties. Lefties have to get their instruments custom made which is costly. When a right handed person looks at a right handed chord chart it’s already a little confusing to understand but a left-handed person looking at a right handed chord chart is the most illogical thing and even though left-handed chord charts are made, they are made less frequently. It should only really be a struggle for a lefty if they switched from using left-handed chord charts but if it’s a lefty looking at a right handed chord chart then it might just become second nature at this point. Depending on the instrument used, ascending and descending chords are reversed because if you’re ascending using a keyboard then you go from the right and if you use a guitar you go from the left which can be hard for a lefty to be consistent when using some instruments.
Despite these inconveniences, being left-handed is a blessing. Getting to say you’re a part of such a rare community is amazing and you should flaunt it because you have what only a few do. All I know is I love being left-handed and I would never have it another way.
