An estimated 10 percent of the population favors their left hand over their right. They are what’s known as left handed.

As today is International Left Handers Day, online “facts” abound.

Yes, I’m one of the ten-percenters. The weird thing is – so are two of my three brothers. That would make you think it’s genetic, right? Not in this case: Both of our parents are right-handed yet only one of their four children favors his right hand.

And, if I may indulge in a bit of sibling judgment, I will add that it’s my right-handed brother – fellow middle child Dave – who is the most creative. That’s not a knock against my other brothers; but Dave is a genuine composer. So that kicks out #2 in the above graphic. And #5, as well, if you’re strictly looking at who was valedictorian of his high school class. And who got a perfect score on the SAT tests. Wasn’t me.

“So you’re left handed. Big deal,” you say?

You must be one of the 90% who have never dealt with this:

The smudge is real. And it smells nasty. This can happen with ink, too, especially magic markers. Oh, and fountain pens. I love fountain pens, but they don’t work well when your hand drags along behind and smears the fresh ink.

In case you’re wondering, I didn’t/don’t do the left-handed curl. Apologists try to avoid the smudge by curling their hand above the page. They look like they’re trying to hide something.

Not such a big deal, right? Only occasional discomforts.

That’s easy to say in modern times.

Sinistrality

The condition of being left handed (or left-eyed, -legged, etc.) is officially labeled as sinistrality.

Take a look at the French and Latin roots:

Sinister and unlucky. Great.

These days, the prejudice has lessened (but if the QAnon nutjobs catch wind that our last two Democratic Presidents were left-handed, we may see a revival of Right Supremacy).

In some cultures, the right hand is used for eating while the left is reserved for, well, cleaning up at the other end of the food’s journey.

The Bible tells us about “the right hand of God.” Jesus sits on the right side of his Father. The left side? That’s reserved for that troublemaker, the Archangel Gabriel.

Back in the 1600s and 1700s, left handedness was considered a sign of evil, consorting with the devil. During the Salem witch trials of the 1690s, a left-handed woman was moved to the front of the line.

There’s an interesting article in The Smithsonian Magazine that states two-thirds of the world’s population still show a bias against left-handedness.

Even in the first half of the 20th century, medical journals still included mention that a left-handed child was more inclined toward severe developmental and learning disabilities. What? Because we smudged our math papers?

Back in the ’60s, the nuns at Sacred Heart School weren’t crazy about my left-handedness.

It took until sixth grade, though, for them to decide to do something about it.

This is where my brain is confused (probably due to the lead poisoning from all the pencil smudges soaking into my bloodstream) as I remember Sister Lillian as being fairly young and, dare I say, progressive in her dealings with her students.

The specific approach was not incredibly draconian – she didn’t physically tie back my left hand, as was apparently done back in the good old days. Instead, she asked me to give it a try. Use my right hand for a week. You know, an experiment of sorts.

Well, I tried, I really did. But my right hand just didn’t hold a pencil or pen comfortably. Or steadily. Learning The Palmer Method of handwriting back in the second grade was tough enough. Relearning it four years later was ridiculous.

What I remember most was at the end of the week, Sister proclaimed to the rest of the class:

Well, we finally found something Paula isn’t good at!

And everyone laughed. Thanks a lot, Sister. And, by the way, proper grammar dictates that you do not end a sentence with a preposition.

So back into my left hand with pen, pencil, and scissors.

Crochet hook, too. My Aunt Barbara was very patient and taught me how to crochet “backwards.”

What about guitar? Inexplicably, I play right handed. (Sorry, Sir Paul.)

I suddenly remember how prejudiced archery equipment is against left-handed archer. Think about it. Ouch!

If the world so despises left handed dominance, what about wedding rings?

Traditional wedding ring placement can be attributed to the Ancient Romans. They believed a vein in the fourth finger of the left hand ran directly to the heart. It’s the way couples declare their ever-lasting love for one another.

Over the years, I’ve acquired a few tools especially made for lefties:

• Left-handed scissors: a gift from my sinistral brother, Bill. The difference was amazing. I used to sew a lot, and cutting layers of material had been quite painful.

• My beloved portfolio: those of us blessed with left-handedness have trouble writing in notebooks, three-ring binders, or folders, because our left hand, wrist, arm, get scratched on the ring, the spiral, or other uncomfortable metal bits holding the paper together.
  
  I splurged one year and bought myself a beautiful red leather portfolio from Levenger that included a second opening to slide in the cardboard portion of the notepad.
  
  The photo below shows the portfolio set up for a right-handed user. Simply slide out the pad (Levenger’s paper is exquisite), give the portfolio a 180-degree turn, and slide the pad in the other opening. Suddenly, your left hand is free to take notes without the encumbrance of all those aforementioned metal bits.

• Trackball Mouse: son Thomas got me hooked on the Trackman Marble years ago, first at work then home. It really came in handy when my thumb got sore from overuse and I could switch the buttons and even which hand I used. This isn’t specifically made for southpaws, but it sure feels friendlier than a traditional mouse.

My husband? Gary is right-handed.

We have to be careful when sliding into a booth at a restaurant; if I’m sitting to his right, our elbows launch into battle as soon as the entree arrives.

Our three sons are all right-handed. So is grandson Cameron.

Let’s end this with a quote. So many online memes are snooty and self-congratulatory about how special it is to be left handed. It took finding this quote, from the inimitable Montgomery Burns, for me to rub my hands together and murmur, “Excellent … “

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