From scissors to knives, Left-handers, or Southpaws, are the brunt of jokes all year long for various different things. But this is the day to ignore that, and bring awareness to all the right handed folk around the globe in celebration of Left-Handers Day, after all while right handed people operate in the left side of the brain, left handed people sure the right side. Therefore, only left-handed people are in their right mind.
History of Left-Handers Day
Celebrating it’s first year recognized in 1976, Left-handers International helped raise awareness of the difficulties of being left handed. Being accused of witchcraft in the 1600s for just using one hand more than the other, was only the beginning. With only 10 percent of the population being left-handed, various items are more expensive than their right handed counterparts. Objects like scissors, knives and even school desks can see a mark up of almost 75 percent more for left handed individuals, while golf clubs see as much as a 200 percent increase dependent on brand.
Famous Lefties
There are scores of famous left-handed people from presidents to film stars, musicians to sports stars, and artists to inventors and more.
Here’s a complete list: Left-Handers from the left-handed wikia
Thirteen Facts about Left-Handers (from The Telegraph):
1.) Just 10 per cent of the world’s population is left-handed and this has remained roughly the case for thousands of years. Men are also more likely to be left-handed.
2.) Historically left-handed people were considered inferior, with the use of the left hand being associated with witchcraft.
3.) Left-hand shakes are a sign of disrespect. This derives from the Middle Ages where people used to use their left hand to wipe after going to the toilet.
4.) The word sinister comes from the Latin word “sinestra” which originally meant “left” but took on meanings or “evil” or “unlucky.”
5.) Wedding rings worn on the third finger of the left hand originated with the Greeks and Romans, who wore them to fend of evil associated with the left-hand.
6.) Tennis champion Rafael Nadal switched to being a left-handed player – and there’s a myth that his coach and mentor Toni Nadal noted it would give him a bigger advantage on court.
7.) A left-handed compliment is a criticism couched as a compliment; otherwise known as a backhanded compliment, such as “you are very competent for someone so inexperienced.”
8.) The term “left- wing” dates from the 1790s, when in the French revolutionary parliament the socialist representatives sat to the presiding officer’s left. Leftists at this time were considered hostile to the interests of traditional elites.
9.) Christianity traditionally associated the left with evil through its description of a Last Judgement where the damned (“goats”) are sent to the left, and the saved (“sheep”) to the right.
10.) In The Simpsons, character Ned Flanders set up a shop to recognise the plight of left-handed people. Named “The Leftorium”, it specialised in left-handed products.
11.) Five out of the last seven US presidents write with their left-hand– Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
12.) Lefties are also called “southpaws”. The term was coined in baseball to describe a left-handed pitcher.
13.) There’s even a place called Left Hand. It’s in Virginia, US but sadly the town isn’t named after its left-handed community. It’s actually named after nearby Lefthand Run creek.
How to celebrate Left-Handers Day
Bring up the difficulties to those with right-handed tendencies, this is easily enough done by asking them to use left-handed scissors in their right hands. Just the discomfort alone tends to be enough to bring people around to understanding. Learning to throw a ball or write on a desk designed for a right hand is difficult for a Southpaw, so why not swap the table on them and sit them at a left-handed student desk to right some things down with their right hand. Introduce them to the inherent difficulties of using a left-handed paring knife in their right hand. Show them how coffee mugs are made with the picture and writing so one would have to use the cup in the right hand in order to make use of it as it was intended. Or the computer mouse, which is intended for a right handed person, becomes difficult without knowing how to swap it to the left-handed mode.
But whatever you do, don’t forget the jokes regarding the fact of left-handed folk are better than right!
Like the fact that everyone is born right-handed, but only the greatest overcome it. Or that it is believed that octopuses only have one right hand. Or that polar bears are believed to be primarily left-handed.
