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Post by Coaster on Dec 17, 2012 22:47:30 GMT -5
Also known as the Left Rights Movement, but for inclusion's sake, let's just call it Handedness Chat.
Just because Inigo Montoya isn't left-handed, doesn't mean we all aren't.
Has your handedness (whether right or left, actually) ever put you in a rough spot? Are there certain strange things you can only do with one hand or the other, other than writing? Are you left-handed (or right-handed) in writing only, but opposite in other things? Is there some piece of low-tech tech that is frustratingly usable right-hand only?
For example, I just noticed that the seam on paper cups (or at least the DQ ones) is folded so that if you try to scrape your spoon along the wall counter-clockwise (the more natural way to do so for a left-handed person trying to get to the bottom of their sundae, or at least it is for me), it will get caught on the edge.
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Post by Jove on Dec 18, 2012 4:54:40 GMT -5
I like this thread.
I had a few teachers in school who for some reason insisted we always use pens for our notes. I loathed these teachers. My childhood consisted mostly of people asking me why I had ink on my hand.
I can only write with the left, but I use the mouse and generally pick up and catch things with the right. It's the stronger hand, I guess. If I held a gun one-handed I would probably hold it with the left though.
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Post by Yoyti on Dec 18, 2012 20:36:52 GMT -5
Left handedness! Yay!
Yeah, I hate ink (and even graphite) rubbing off on my hand.
There are some very specific instances where I sometimes use my right hand as my favored hand, but those are few and far between.
I really like how, on the violin, you hold the bow with your right hand, because it means you finger with your left. It's the fingering of the notes that's the interesting part, and as a violin player, it has given me a decided advantage. Actually, I think most string instruments, both bowed and plucked, use the left hand for fingering. On the oboe too, a lot of alternate fingerings rely on the left hand (left hand F, Eb and Ab immediately come to mind, as well as an alternate fingering for high E), as well as some decidedly difficult trills (Ab to A, for example, requires some tricky maneuvering on the part of the left hand).
However, the real difficulty comes in eating. My family has it perfected to an art. A left handed person may never sit to the right of a right handed person. That is our main rule. Why, you ask? Because, I answer, if I am eating with my left hand, my left arm is undergoing a reasonable amount of movement, and the same is true for the right arm of the hypothetical right hander next to me. If we are seated like that, our arms bang into each other, and get tangled up, and make for a cramped eating experience. Ideally, for small gatherings, a lefty and a righty sit next to each other, but with the lefty on the left. Not only does this maximize arm space, but also allows the glasses to be situated further apart, so as to reduce chance of confusion. In larger gatherings, it is prudent to place all lefties on one side of the table, and righties on the other. If there are an uneven amount, sit the extra righties to the right of the lefties. Never, under any circumstances, are you to eat around a circular table.
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Dec 18, 2012 22:23:29 GMT -5
All right! Southpaws united!
Yeah, writing on paper can be a huge pain in the neck, especially when writing in pencil.
And Yoyti, I know how you feel as I'm the only southpaw within my family (at least, my immediate, I don't know about extended)
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Post by Coaster on Dec 19, 2012 3:39:14 GMT -5
My dad and I are both leftie, whereas my mom and sister are right-handed, so we've got a pretty similar system for when we sit in a restaurant booth  I hear that, apparently, switching hands for something you usually do with a particular hand is supposed to help with memory. |
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Post by Kristykimmy on Dec 19, 2012 13:00:21 GMT -5
*high-fives the lefties*
Yes, this so much. Being the only lefty in a family of right handed people (There are eight, possibly nine of them. XP ) has always been a bit of an annoyance.
On the subject of writing, I hate White Boards. It is so annoying to try to write clearly with one of those markers without smudging it with your hand. XP
I actually use my right hand for a lot of things, such as knives and scissors, mouses (with a family full of right handed people there was never a left handed mouse around and by the time I had my own computer it just would have been weird.) I also can type one-handed with the same skill with both hands. Really, except for writing and drawing, I've kinda had to become ambidextrous in most of the usual areas because of things being shaped for right hands, which I assume is true for most lefties in right hand dominated families.
Videogames have been a bit of an annoyance too. I've found a few Wii games that didn't allow for left handed players, so I've had to learn to operate the controller what is sort of backwards to me.
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Post by Coaster on Dec 19, 2012 17:10:51 GMT -5
Videogames have been a bit of an annoyance too. I've found a few Wii games that didn't allow for left handed players, so I've had to learn to operate the controller what is sort of backwards to me. Yes. Yes yes yes. This wasn't bad with Guitar Hero (in fact it was probably easier right-handed anyways), but for things like Skyward Sword... ugh. |
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Post by Cow-winkle on Dec 19, 2012 17:44:44 GMT -5
I write with my left hand, but I do most other things with my right hand, so I haven't had the same problems most left-handed people have had. However, there are other left-handed people in my family, and my left-handed grandfather went to a Catholic school in a time when all the students were forced to write with their right hand.
Probably the only slightly annoying thing for me was in elementary and high school, when other kids didn't get the concept of left-handedness. For example, when I was writing with my left hand:
Girl: "Why are you writing with your left hand?"
Me: "Because I'm left-handed."
Girl: "But why can't you just write with your right hand like everyone else?"
Me: "Because I'm not right-handed, I'm left-handed."
Girl: "But why can't you just switch?"
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Post by Yoyti on Dec 19, 2012 18:39:52 GMT -5
Probably the only slightly annoying thing for me was in elementary and high school, when other kids didn't get the concept of left-handedness. For example, when I was writing with my left hand: Girl: "Why are you writing with your left hand?" Me: "Because I'm left-handed." Girl: "But why can't you just write with your right hand like everyone else?" Me: "Because I'm not right-handed, I'm left-handed." Girl: "But why can't you just switch?" Oh, yeah. I hated that. In elementary school, I had people all over the place trying to "convert" me to right handedness, and insisting that when I demonstrated that, even though my handwriting is bad, it's worse with my right hand, that I was somehow "faking" the illegible scribbles. Now my chemistry teacher rages on about how subway turnstiles are built for right handed people, and gloating whenever lefties have the slightest advantage. My dad is also left handed. He claimed his superiority by taking up fencing, where he had the advantage against right handed opponents. Eh, we've got to take our victories when we can.  |
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Post by Jove on Dec 19, 2012 19:00:34 GMT -5
Oh jeez. People are always surprised to find out I'm left handed, but nobody ever asked me why or tried to change me into a righty. That is pretty stupid.
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Post by Killix on Dec 20, 2012 3:20:15 GMT -5
Down with chalk boards!
Down with sharp kitchen knives that have grooves on only the right side!
Down with DS games that assume you want to use the stylus in your right hand, making the game controls impossible!
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Post by Kristykimmy on Dec 20, 2012 11:30:56 GMT -5
I write with my left hand, but I do most other things with my right hand, so I haven't had the same problems most left-handed people have had. However, there are other left-handed people in my family, and my left-handed grandfather went to a Catholic school in a time when all the students were forced to write with their right hand. Probably the only slightly annoying thing for me was in elementary and high school, when other kids didn't get the concept of left-handedness. For example, when I was writing with my left hand: Girl: "Why are you writing with your left hand?" Me: "Because I'm left-handed." Girl: "But why can't you just write with your right hand like everyone else?" Me: "Because I'm not right-handed, I'm left-handed." Girl: "But why can't you just switch?" Wow, that's terrible. D= I was homeschooled from third grade on, but in the first and second grade I don't remember any other student in my class being left handed, and no one ever questioned it. Coaster: I played Skyward Sword and don't remember having handedness trouble with it. (I only got up to that desert place before I got too sick to play and never got back into the game, but still.) Did you check to make sure that the controls in that game were set to left? (Also, I've always been fond of Link 'cause he's left handed. X3 ) |
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Post by Coaster on Dec 20, 2012 16:30:51 GMT -5
Did you check to make sure that the controls in that game were set to left? (Also, I've always been fond of Link 'cause he's left handed. X3 ) I couldn't find that option for the life of me, if it exists 0_o; But basically, anything that requires the Wii remote in one specific hand and the Nunchuk in the other. Although I would probably agree more with Killix's point about the DS. |
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Post by Coaster on Aug 13, 2013 18:38:00 GMT -5
So apparently it's International Lefthanders Day today. Looks like you learn something new every day. >_>  |
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Post by Coaster on Feb 17, 2015 23:47:00 GMT -5
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