Embrace Left-Handedness With These 5 Great Sites: "
Must be something going on in my mind about my dad. My last article was inspired by his tattoo. This one is about left-handers, which my dad was. I remember him telling me stories of how when he was a kid, they tried to force him to do everything right-handed. Apparently there was a time when being left-handed meant you had the devil in you or something like that. It was quite a big deal back in the day!
Now, I am right-handed, at every activity except one – shooting a rifle. That’s about the most awkward thing I think you can do left-handed, and it was a pain in the neck (literally) when I was in the military. Hot casings popping out and going down my shirt. Ouch!
Anyway, that’s what lead me to look for great websites for the southpaws in our society. And away we go!
Famous Left Handers
If you’re a southpaw, you’re in good company. Not just famous boxers and pitchers either, who took a supposed handicap and made it into their commodity. Five out of the last seven U.S. Presidents have signed their executive orders with their left hands. Maybe there is something to that ‘devil’ thing. Just kidding, Mr. Secret Service man. Please take off the latex glove. Seriously though, I do think Mr. Obama is a pretty cool guy, regardless of his politics.
There have been some famous actors as well. Did you know Joey Lawrence is a lefty? Whoa! Cary Grant made the ladies swoon with the soft touch of his left hand. Jim Henson, the creator of Muppets had his left hand up the posterior of Kermit, who, coincidentally, is also a lefty. Who knew? Oh and Angelina Jolie is left handed too. I only mention that because I think she’s the second hottest woman on Earth. My sweetie is first of course.
Left Handers Day
Why shouldn’t Lefties have a day of their own? Every other day is dominated by the Righties. Look at them using scissors so smuggly. No ink stain on the edge of their oh-so-precious right hands. Left Hand Day is August the 13th, just in case you were wondering. The Left Hand Day web site has way more to offer than just that though. They have some great quizzes, lots of funny lefty jokes and stories, a left-hand-store.
The left-hander facts were pretty cool too. Did you know that Lefties usually reach puberty about 4-5 months earlier than Righties? They also have a higher incidence of dyslexia. Which is interesting because my sweetie is left-handed, dyslexic and definitely sexier than a right hander like me.
Rosemary West’s Left-Handed Page
Rosemary, Rosemary’s Baby, devil…left-handed. I’m telling you, there’s something there! Rosemary has taken the time to get a good blog going where people are encouraged to contribute questions and articles. This site is pretty enlightening about the plight of lefties. There’s a story from a 13 year old who was forced to be a righty, but has never sucessfully adapted. Now, he’s trying to foster his left-handedness and is struggling. With the importance of writing in school, you can see how difficult something like this could make your life.
There’s also a note about a $100,000 scholarship for lefties. Very cool. After reading the 13 -year-old’s story, you can definitely see where there would be a need for something like this.
Handedness Research Institute
The HRI’s mandate is to advance the scientific understanding of handedness (left-handed, right-handed,
and mixed manual preferences) and help alleviate the social and educational discrimination of left-handers worldwide through research and education. It’s a very extensive site with well-researched articles that the academic or layperson can learn from.
HRI supports a Research Fellow and Internship program for those studying handedness. Perhaps even more useful to the average person is their rich section on educational resources, including the Homework Help section.
Crochet Lessons for Left-Handers
Brought to you by the Crochet Guild of America, these visual lessons for lefties should get you making afghans in no time. Did you even know there was a Crochet Guild? This site bears merit to be in here for several reasons. It should encourage other craft guilds to put together something like this for Lefties. For many true crafts, the numbers of people doing them are dropping off. Why not tap into that 10% of the population and gain some grateful adherents? If I’ve learned anything from my sweetie, it’s that Lefties are passionate!
I hope you have enjoyed my selection of left-handed sites. Perhaps you’ll find them as fascinating as I did, and as insightful into the lives of people who do things just a tad differently than most. It’s a great world because nobody is the same.
Image Credit: Hortulus
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