"LEFTIES HAVE RIGHTS TOO!"

When I was six years old my first grade teacher was determined to make me write right-handed.  I felt like there was definitely something wrong with me.  It was my first year of school and it wasn’t much fun, at least to start.  My mother must have sensed that something was wrong because she had a hard time getting me out the door.  She had to follow me to school and there were plenty of tears.  When I finally told her that Mrs. S. didn’t like me being left-handed and was trying to change me, my mother got mad.  She had been a teacher, extremely well-liked and respected and she didn’t want my first experience with school to be a negative one.  She met with my teacher and let her know that she would not allow me to be changed from writing left-handed.  I don’t remember any big problems in first grade after that.  Second grade was another story, but not because I was left-handed.  I loved my teacher, but my friend Kandyce and I picked a fight with another girl and spent some time in the classroom after school.  Maybe I still had a “chip on my shoulder” from first grade.

When I recently discovered the existence of an International Left-Handers Day every year on August 13, I was thrilled.  Finally lefties were getting some recognition.  After all, “lefties have rights too.”  That day is a celebration of left-handers uniqueness, but also a chance to emphasize the difficulties southpaws have faced through the years in a world that is much more adapted to right-handers.  It’s also a recognition that many more people would have been left-handed if they had not been forced to write right-handed.

Patty Berg, an exceptional right-handed golfer; I loved having clubs named after her.

The little bank I won nearly 50 years ago playing golf with my left-handed clubs.

James Garfield may have been the first U.S. left-handed president.  Some people said that he could write with both hands simultaneously, even in Greek and Latin.  I tried that once (only in English) and the result was quite amusing; the words were up and down and all over the page.  I can do a few things with my right hand, but writing is not one of them.  I learned to play golf left-handed when I was about 12. I was proud of my Patty Berg golf clubs, which I kept for over 40 years.   I might have looked awkward to others with my swing, but I felt confident and unique in my ability to play left-handed.  The ball didn’t always go where I wanted it to, but often enough.  I still have a little bank that I won nearly 50 years ago in a golf tournament.  It’s rusted and weathered, but it reminds me of happy teenage years spent playing golf with my special left-handed Patty Berg clubs, along with good friends. Those clubs have been replaced by some newer, fancier ones that my son bought me when I turned 50.  I’ve rarely used them because of leg problems, but one day I’m confident the old southpaw swing will return. 

Over the years there have been plenty of expressions used that relate to lefties.  How about “being out in left field” (implying being clueless) or having “two left feet,” meaning clumsy? I doubt that righties have thought much about those phrases, but the labeling implies awkwardness.  I’m sure that watching me sew left-handed looks as awkward to others as it does to me doing the actual sewing, but that’s not because of my left-handedness.  I just can’t sew worth a darn-- (no pun intended).

I’m aware that many lefties can also do things right-handed, but most righties are almost entirely right-handed.  I know that bowling is something I’d never attempt left-handed.  I throw enough gutter balls the way it is.

I’d still like to know why left-handed items are much more expensive and why tools are mostly made for right-handers.  It’s not a big deal, but it bothers me a little. I’d also like to know how Left Hand, West Virginia, a small town of less than 500 people got its name.  It’s definitely original and something I can relate to.

I know there are a lot of phobias in the world, but I’d never heard of sinistrophobia before.  It’s the fear of left-handedness or things on the body’s left side.

Sandy Koufax, an amazing left-handed pitcher who dominated baseball.

It was fascinating to learn that we’ve had eight left-handed presidents—Garfield, Hoover, Truman, Ford, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and Obama.  Considering that the general population only has about 10 percent left-handers, I found it interesting that nearly 20 percent of our presidents have been left-handed.  Many experts point to the left-handers ability to multi-task.  Lefties are often creative, good in sports, and artistic.  Here are some famous left-handers from all walks of life:  Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, Prime Minister David Cameron, John McCain, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Ty Cobb, Sandy Koufax, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Martina Navratilova, Marilyn Monroe, Caroline Kennedy, Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Cruise, Paul McCartney, John F. Kennedy Jr., Jay Leno, Vin Scully, Bill Russell, and my favorite—Kermit the Frog. 

Whether you’re left or right-handed, keep Aug. 13—International Left Handers Day in mind and remember all those lefties, famous or not, who’ve made a difference in the world—“ those lefties have rights too!”