Left Handers Unite!

[Moonlit]

Fountain pens are made for right-handed people too although you can find them (at a higher price) for lefties. I managed to get around smudging the ink when writing but the nibs are cut for a right-handed writer and that does make writing more difficult.

I would love to find a left-handed camera. I've done a lot of on-line searching and have yet to find a place that makes a camera for a lefty.

One big advantage to being a lefty is that we recover from strokes more quickly and more completely. I don't remember the reason for that but I think it has something to do with the part of the brain that is usually affected by a stroke. I also think the more complete recovery is because we're used to having to find different ways of doing things so our brains adapt more readily. (that's my theory).

 

[CallMeMistress]

Lefty here - I knit right handed but in a very strange way

Did you know it's possible to be left or right footed - just go to kick a ball and see. It doesn't follow that a right handed person will be right footed........

 

[kiwi_submissive]

DVS, I can't use leftie scissors either. They actually bother me more than normal ones. Unfortunately, I am so clumsy and uncoordinated with my right hand that I can't drive stick shift well. It's just beyond me...

Stick shift here is great because we drive on the right hand side of the car so we change with our left hand. I do remember however reading that over here we are worse drivers because left handed people have the opposite dominant eye to right handed people and we have a larger blind spot because of it.

I have the most problems with writing. I should have been a doctor it's that bad. People are always asking if i am trying to write on my nose becaue I have my head almost down on the paper trying to look up under my hand at what I am writing. The left handed hook.

I tend to pick and choose what hand to use with every day things. Some times I play pool right handed and sometimes left handed, same with darts or doing embroidery. It's good to keep in practice with both hands in case i break an arm one day or something, then it won't affect me quite so much.

 

[Babyslave]

I'm left handed as are my mother, and my only sibling; my older sister. My dad is ambi-dextrous. They tried to break him of his left handed preference both in school and from what he tells me, the Navy. Oddly, in my place of business, I am the only female of 50 or so that is left handed. However, of the 40 or so men I work closely with, almost half are left handed.

I can't use left handed scissors, computer mouse or keyboard. I use my right hand for anything using a numeric keypad, from the adding machine, telephone, cash register and of course keyboard.

I've often blamed my left handedness for my crappy abilities in playing piano (though it didn't affect my ability to play clarinet and alto sax quite well) as well as knitting. My grandmother tried to teach me both, as have many others over the years, to no avail. Of course, they were all right handed. Shrug.

 

[Chiara_searches]

I iron left-handed. If I pick up any pair of scissors, I'll sometimes put them on my right hand upside down (fingers in the thumb hole) because growing up my mom only had left-handed scissors in the house.

When I was a child, I taught myself to write mirror image with my left hand...at the same time I'm writing regular with my right. It was a fun party trick for a while. I know it still means I don't get exclusive membership into this club, but I believe I sometimes think a bit like a left handed person because of it.

Oh, and when my younger sister was a baby, we would put the spoon in her bowl directly at 6:00 so she would have to decide what hand to use. She's a lefty.

 

[teknight]

I iron left-handed. If I pick up any pair of scissors, I'll sometimes put them on my right hand upside down (fingers in the thumb hole) because growing up my mom only had left-handed scissors in the house.

When I was a child, I taught myself to write mirror image with my left hand...at the same time I'm writing regular with my right. It was a fun party trick for a while. I know it still means I don't get exclusive membership into this club, but I believe I sometimes think a bit like a left handed person because of it.

Oh, and when my younger sister was a baby, we would put the spoon in her bowl directly at 6:00 so she would have to decide what hand to use. She's a lefty.

As in...you can write the same information simultaneously? :corbfuzzled:

 

[MancMonkey]

DVS, I can't use leftie scissors either. They actually bother me more than normal ones. Unfortunately, I am so clumsy and uncoordinated with my right hand that I can't drive stick shift well. It's just beyond me...

Hey. Don't worry, just move to the UK where we drive on the correct side

 

[reachedme]

or Australia

(right handers rock)

 

[DVS]

Hey. Don't worry, just move to the UK where we drive on the correct side

After learning to drive the USA way, I don't know if I could get use to the UK way. Oh, I could do it, I'm sure, because I'm left handed. We lefties have to learn so many things the hard way, because the world is just built that way...wrong.

 

[DVS]

or Australia

(right handers rock)

Hit the road, right handed scum. You don't scare us. We can fight you your right handed way, then come at you with a quick left jab that you won't see coming until it's too late. We're lefties...we can do it all. (insert Rocky I music here).

 

[reachedme]

Hit the road, right handed scum. You don't scare us. We can fight you your right handed way, then come at you with a quick left jab that you won't see coming until it's too late. We're lefties...we can do it all. (insert Rocky I music here).

lol you can't write right handed so you can't do it all (insert road to nowhere - talking heads)
sorry my ex was/is a leftie

 

[DVS]

lol you can't write right handed so you can't do it all (insert road to nowhere - talking heads)
sorry my ex was/is a leftie

Who would want to write right handed...really? It's even difficult to say. Oh, I never really cared much for the Talking Heads.

So, trying to slide in the back door, because your ex-husband is one of us? Well, OK, but don't try anything shifty. Actually, because you were married to one, I'm sure you know that we lefties are pretty much a nice, happy group...even with the scratches and bruises we get from the learning curve of living in the strange and cruel right handed world.

Hey! You divorced your left handed husband? You right handed people just never stop, do you! Always trying to prove your superiority. Ummm, Sorry. Don't mind my rant. You're OK. (insert Beatles tune "All You Need is Love" here).

 

[LiterallyAngel]

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[DVS]

I'm left-handed, though as a child I learned to bat right-handed...it's the one thing I do right. hehe

I bat right handed, too. It didn't make any difference. I wasn't any good. For some reason, batting left handed just felt strange. I confess with full disclosure...it's the only thing I do wrong.

 

[Babyslave]

I bat right handed, too. It didn't make any difference. I wasn't any good. For some reason, batting left handed just felt strange. I confess with full disclosure...it's the only thing I do wrong.

NOOOO!! Take these words back please. I can't handle this. Please?
How about it's the only thing you don't do right. Or not absolutely well, or not perfectly? Something.

For you to use the word wrong in regard to yourself? It just doesn't sit right (or left) with me. Have pity, DVS

 

[Chiara_searches]

As in...you can write the same information simultaneously? :corbfuzzled:

Yes ~ exactly. I first taught myself to write my name, in cursive, in traditional left to right, all letters regularly faced with my right hand, while simultaneously writing the mirror image with my left hand (letters backwards, written from right to left). Then I tried other words and a few sentences. But as I grew older, I let the skill go.

But HEY I just tried it with my fingers in the air and I can still mostly do it...screwed up my first letter but the rest flowed. Must be like riding a bicycle.

 

[LiterallyAngel]

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[kiwi_submissive]

On a side note, do any of you left handers have issues with tieing a knot in the top of balloons after you have blown them up?

Also shoelaces, they always seem to look like limp broccoli when I have finished with them.

And does anyone else write with the left handed hook where you are almost writing on your nose because your face is so close to the paper?

Or maybe I just have issues?

 

[Babyslave]

On a side note, do any of you left handers have issues with tieing a knot in the top of balloons after you have blown them up?

Also shoelaces, they always seem to look like limp broccoli when I have finished with them.

And does anyone else write with the left handed hook where you are almost writing on your nose because your face is so close to the paper?

Or maybe I just have issues?

Well, you aren't alone with these issues..

I've always had a problem tying the knot on a balloon. I just thought I had poor motor skills. I can manage it if it's a really BIG balloon, though.

Shoelaces not so much, but maybe I just never really paid attention to how everyone elses looked compared to mine.

I DO have the left handed hook goin' on. To this day it still cracks people up. And I can't sit an anyone else's desk because of it... Mine is set up so much differently to situate the paper the right way (nearly horizontal)

 

[DVS]

I'm going to use the excuse that my tits are too big now for me to successfully play softball. haha

Well, my balls are too large for me to run, so I'm there with ya!

 

[DVS]

On a side note, do any of you left handers have issues with tieing a knot in the top of balloons after you have blown them up?

Also shoelaces, they always seem to look like limp broccoli when I have finished with them.

And does anyone else write with the left handed hook where you are almost writing on your nose because your face is so close to the paper?

Or maybe I just have issues?

I've always had a little trouble buttoning things, and with my recent pinched nerve, it got a lot worse. It's terrible when you are in a hurry to get somewhere and you can't even get dressed.

I don't think I ever had a problem tying my shoes, but I never liked one being tighter than the other, so a lot of my shoes, the laces never get untied...I just slip them on and off. I guess I'm a sort of Houdini in that way.

I do know that for a long time, my tied laces looked strange. sometimes the bow could actually be pointing up and down, instead of sideways. One day, I was informed by a shoe salesman (I think he was also gay and into fashion) how to properly tie a shoe so the laces ALWAYS are positioned sideways. Let's see if I can relate that in text...
When you tie your bow, always put the right lace over the left, and then take it under the left, forming the first knot. Then, just tie your bow as you always have. The key is putting that right lace over the left one, for the first knot. If I told you correctly, the loops of the bow should always be sideways. I've never had an issue, once I found that information out.

I don't know what you mean about having a problem tying knots in balloons. I guess I haven't had that much experience with balloons. I do know that I need a certain amount of balloon to be able to tie a knot. I have to push the air aside and stretch the balloon so I have sufficient balloon material to tie. Other than that, not a problem. I just assumed everybody had to deal with that...maybe not?

For writing, I think it's almost normal for many left handers to slant the paper like a right hander would. I do it. And I have to hook my hand around, so I can see what I'm writing. Holding the paper like a left hander is suppose to just doesn't work for me. I can't get the proper slant, and I can't see what I'm writing. Obviously, all of my teachers were right handed, so they only knew to show me the "correct" way. They never knew how impossible it was. I didn't have my face close to the page, but I've seen others do that...even righties! They aren't always perfect, either.

Also we lefties had to deal with the ink getting on our hands. After lengthy writing, I'd always have ink on the heal of my hand, right where my little finger connects. The ink isn't dry when your hand slides over it, so we always have to deal with that.

 

[DVS]

NOOOO!! Take these words back please. I can't handle this. Please?
How about it's the only thing you don't do right. Or not absolutely well, or not perfectly? Something.

For you to use the word wrong in regard to yourself? It just doesn't sit right (or left) with me. Have pity, DVS

SUFFER!

 

[kiwi_submissive]

Well, you aren't alone with these issues..

I've always had a problem tying the knot on a balloon. I just thought I had poor motor skills. I can manage it if it's a really BIG balloon, though.

Shoelaces not so much, but maybe I just never really paid attention to how everyone elses looked compared to mine.

I DO have the left handed hook goin' on. To this day it still cracks people up. And I can't sit an anyone else's desk because of it... Mine is set up so much differently to situate the paper the right way (nearly horizontal)

I might just give up on the whole balloon idea, it's a great excuse to get out of tieing them up.

I've always had a little trouble buttoning things, and with my recent pinched nerve, it got a lot worse. It's terrible when you are in a hurry to get somewhere and you can't even get dressed.

I don't think I ever had a problem tying my shoes, but I never liked one being tighter than the other, so a lot of my shoes, the laces never get untied...I just slip them on and off. I guess I'm a sort of Houdini in that way.

I do know that for a long time, my tied laces looked strange. sometimes the bow could actually be pointing up and down, instead of sideways. One day, I was informed by a shoe salesman (I think he was also gay and into fashion) how to properly tie a shoe so the laces ALWAYS are positioned sideways. Let's see if I can relate that in text...
When you tie your bow, always put the right lace over the left, and then take it under the left, forming the first knot. Then, just tie your bow as you always have. The key is putting that right lace over the left one, for the first knot. If I told you correctly, the loops of the bow should always be sideways. I've never had an issue, once I found that information out.

I don't know what you mean about having a problem tying knots in balloons. I guess I haven't had that much experience with balloons. I do know that I need a certain amount of balloon to be able to tie a knot. I have to push the air aside and stretch the balloon so I have sufficient balloon material to tie. Other than that, not a problem. I just assumed everybody had to deal with that...maybe not?

For writing, I think it's almost normal for many left handers to slant the paper like a right hander would. I do it. And I have to hook my hand around, so I can see what I'm writing. Holding the paper like a left hander is suppose to just doesn't work for me. I can't get the proper slant, and I can't see what I'm writing. Obviously, all of my teachers were right handed, so they only knew to show me the "correct" way. They never knew how impossible it was. I didn't have my face close to the page, but I've seen others do that...even righties! They aren't always perfect, either.

Also we lefties had to deal with the ink getting on our hands. After lengthy writing, I'd always have ink on the heal of my hand, right where my little finger connects. The ink isn't dry when your hand slides over it, so we always have to deal with that.

Yes buttons tend to be a bit beyond me and hooks take ages to try and do so I stay away from those if I can.

I think thats the biggest problem is seeing what you are writing and I had forgotten about the ink of the heel of the hand. So annoying.

Thanks for the shoelace tip. I might have to go and practice some.

 

[DVS]

I might just give up on the whole balloon idea, it's a great excuse to get out of tieing them up.



Yes buttons tend to be a bit beyond me and hooks take ages to try and do so I stay away from those if I can.

I think thats the biggest problem is seeing what you are writing and I had forgotten about the ink of the heel of the hand. So annoying.

Thanks for the shoelace tip. I might have to go and practice some.

Sorry, I think I told you "sort of" wrong on that. I told you the opposite of how I tie the first knot. Yeah, I know...already I'm correcting myself. And, I was only told about the first knot, but maybe I was always doing the loop correctly, so he didn't say anything about that to me. There are actually two steps to tying a good shoe lace. They call it a reef knot.

I found a web site that talks about this and even shows you how to do it. It also goes on to talk about the lace, how it should be tied so you don't have a granny knot. It talks some about the way the laces should rest on the sides of the shoe, but it also talks about how a granny knot will come loose after a while, when a properly tied reef knot won't.

It gets a little confusing, because they usually have a right handed person in the video and they also show it from the wrong view. They show it as someone watching. They should show it from the view of the person tying the shoe.

Here's the link to the web site I viewed. There are others, if you just Google "correct way to tie a shoelace".

OK, here it goes. I'm going to tell you how I do it, as a leftie. Feel free to watch the link I've attached, if you want. You might get some good info from it, that I don't give you. So, after tying a knot this morning, here's the correct way I do it:

First step:
Drape the LEFT lace over the RIGHT, and then take the RIGHT lace over and through the LEFT, forming the first knot.

I form and hold the loop in my left hand, then loop the right lace over the loop, going BACK TO FRONT and pull it through with my left hand. That's how I do it, to get the correct reef knot.

Now, it all depends on what comes easier for you. If you want to loop the lace FROM FRONT TO BACK, because it's easier for you, then just reverse how you tie the first knot. What I mean is...if you want to loop the lace front to back, then in the first knot just put the right lace over the left and then take the right through the left to complete the knot.

Another way to view the looping part is to think of it as clockwise or counter clockwise around the loop. Thinking of the loop as the center of the clock dial, going from back to front is clockwise, and going front to back is counter clockwise.

If someone still doesn't understand this, let me know. I can maybe simplify the area that you are confused in. It's really simple, once you understand the process.

I have even thought up a little rhyme to go with it, if you do it my way.
"Left over right, then clockwise is tight". I guess, if you do it the other way...
"Right over left, then counter the rest".

Oh, for you right handed folks that have this reef knot issue going on, reverse everything I've mentioned above to get the correct reef knot. That is, unless you tie your shoes like a left hander does. I'd assume you tie your shoes by holding the loop in the right hand.

 

[LiterallyAngel]

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