Showing posts with label left-handedness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label left-handedness. Show all posts
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Southpaw
On the way to church this morning I saw the vanity license plate "Sothpaw" which made this left-hander smile. And since I generally think of north, south, east and west just when driving or boating it made my wonder why the term isn't westpaw. Speculation is that this term was coined for left-handed baseball pitchers who traditionally face west when pitching, thus their left hand would be to the south of their body.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Left, Left, Right, Left, Left
At a recent luncheon, a right-handed attendee, shocked me with her observation that of the eight guests at our table, four of us were left-handed. This was the first time I'd ever had a right-hander comment on handedness. My assumption has always been that only left-handers notice, because right-handers don't even think of handedness. My immediate question was, "Do you have a left-handed child?". Not surprisingly, she does.
Left-handers have had life-long experiences of adapting to right-handed tools and processes, so we notice this difference. This awareness, or lack thereof, probably occurs with other subtle differences, as well. We can benefit from the attention to details and perspectives these differences provide.
Left-handers have had life-long experiences of adapting to right-handed tools and processes, so we notice this difference. This awareness, or lack thereof, probably occurs with other subtle differences, as well. We can benefit from the attention to details and perspectives these differences provide.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Left-Handed in a Right-Handed World
My assumption has long been that only left-handers notice handedness. Right-handers naturally assume that everyone's right-handed. This makes perfect sense - 90-93% of the population is right-handed.
I recently had a unique experience at a meeting of 30 or so members of an advisory group. All attendees randomly selected seats. As we began eating, I noticed that there were four left-handers seated in a row. What an unexpected coincidence!
What difference does handedness make? We see the world differently.
We often have to reverse the way a right-hander shows us to do something. Though I learned to tie my shoes when I was 3, I didn't learn to tie a pretty bow until I was in college and dissected the way a right-handed friend went through the steps.
Most tools are designed for a right-handed user. We must adapt our way of using these tools or find those especially designed for left-handers. This is one more reason that we left-handers are quite creative. We intuitively think of alternative ways to do things.
We tend to seek the seats in a dining situation that will allow us to have our left hand at the left end of the table, so we don't bump elbows with our right-handed seat mates. Yes, we are most considerate!
Our right-handed teachers have to stop and think through a process when they are teaching us. I know that I always learn most from teaching another. Our right-handed teachers learn from analyzing the different way that left-handers do things.
Different ways of seeing the world are always beneficial. What inherent trait allows you to observe the world differently?
I recently had a unique experience at a meeting of 30 or so members of an advisory group. All attendees randomly selected seats. As we began eating, I noticed that there were four left-handers seated in a row. What an unexpected coincidence!
What difference does handedness make? We see the world differently.
We often have to reverse the way a right-hander shows us to do something. Though I learned to tie my shoes when I was 3, I didn't learn to tie a pretty bow until I was in college and dissected the way a right-handed friend went through the steps.
Most tools are designed for a right-handed user. We must adapt our way of using these tools or find those especially designed for left-handers. This is one more reason that we left-handers are quite creative. We intuitively think of alternative ways to do things.
We tend to seek the seats in a dining situation that will allow us to have our left hand at the left end of the table, so we don't bump elbows with our right-handed seat mates. Yes, we are most considerate!
Our right-handed teachers have to stop and think through a process when they are teaching us. I know that I always learn most from teaching another. Our right-handed teachers learn from analyzing the different way that left-handers do things.
Different ways of seeing the world are always beneficial. What inherent trait allows you to observe the world differently?
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