Although it’s something I often forget about myself unless someone points it out, growing up left handed has been interesting. Things like scissors, many desks, and tape measures were not designed with left handed people in mind, and I’ve found myself surprised when I read articles about being left handed at some of the things I never realized were harder for left handed people to use. Here are a few of the interesting disadvantages and advantages we face:
- DISADVANTAGE: The Infamous Hand-Pen Stains
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Cute, right?
- DISADVANTAGE: Bank Pens
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I too love writing with a swinging piece of metal covering the paper.
- DISADVANTAGE: Teachers Will Make You Move
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Ever been sitting next to your friend in middle school only to have to be forced to sit by yourself? Yeah, me too.
- DISADVANTAGE: Learning New Sports and Instruments
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It’s somehow twice as confusing trying to learn how to pitch a ball or play guitar. I’m currently attempting to learn guitar right handed so I don’t have to deal with this.
- ADVANTAGE: Left Handed People are Often Presidents, Artists, Mathematicians, Tennis Players, and Thrive in Creative Professions
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If you’re interested into going into any of these fields, you’re not alone. Four of the last six US presidents were left handed, which is pretty amazing considering we only make up ten percent of the population. Apparently, we’re good at complex reasoning and “think outside of the box” more.
- ADVANTAGE: Lefties are Better Drivers, at Least Initially
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57% of left handed people pass their driving tests on their first try, while righties only pass 47% of the time.
- ADVANTAGE: Health Reasons
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Left handed people are able to recover from strokes more quickly, and are less likely to get ulcers and arthritis. Also, the thing about left handed people dying earlier seems to be a myth.
- ADVANTAGE: Strangely, Left Handed People are Able to Spend Less Time Waiting in Lines
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This is simply because right handed people tend to go for the lines on the right, and left handed people go for the left lines. Of course, since there aren’t that many left handed people, the line is much shorter.
Although being left handed didn’t have the best origin (“left” in Latin is literally “sinister”), we are lucky it has come a long way and now there are advantages to being left handed!
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