Happy International Left-Handers Day!
In fact, it's the 23rd observance of the day, which was begun by the Left-Handers Club to raise awareness about being left-handed and to encourage businesses to produce more left-handed products.
I'm a leftie. It's not without it's challenges. I have to concentrate at meetings to keep my elbow from blurring my notes as I write them.
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Years ago, a friend of mine gave me a magnet that said. “Hired the left-handed. It's fun to watch them write.”
But I'm proud of my left-handness. I used to have a shirt that said, “If the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body and the right side of your brain controls the left side of your body, then only left-handed people are in their right minds.”
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First You Write With Your Left Hand, Then You Get the Power: Want to be President of the United States? Better be a southpaw. Four of our last seven presidents - President Obama, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Gerald Ford – are left-handed. So was Thomas Jefferson. Benjamin Franklin, too!
We Will School You at Tennis, Boxing and Baseball: According to the book "The Puzzle of Left-Handedness" by Rik Smits, southpaws may have a distinct in advantage in sports that involve two players facing each other. Smits believes it's because lefties get way more opportunities to practice against right-handed players, since there are so many of them. Since there aren't as many lefties out there, right-handers don't get the same chance.
It's Not All Victories and Ruling the Free World: Lefties don't have it easy in school. Writing, and using scissors can be difficult for children. The Lefthanders Day website goes into more details about this and has some tips on helping kids cope with scissors that refuse to cooperate.
But Don't Try and Make Us Right-Handed: Left-handers are often creative folks. The American Journal of Psychology says evidence is there that supports the notion that southpaws are better at divergent thinking – exploring a variety of solutions to a problem. A survey done by the Left-Handers Club showed that many lefties are drawn into careers in the arts, music, sports and information technology. Unfortunately, evidence shows that lefties tend to make 10 percent less than righties. So maybe the lesson is we should do our jobs with our left hands – except when filing out stuff in front of our bosses.
Excuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: Jimi Hendrix, one of the all-time great guitar players, was left-handed. But he had to make some modifications to his ax before he could play his hits such as “Purple Haze” and “All Along the Watchtower.” Hendrix played a Les Paul Custom – with the strings reversed so he could play it left-handed.
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