Even languages leave left-handers with an awkward feeling.
Even languages leave left-handers with an awkward feeling.
By CATHY SECKMAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
It's a good thing we have a sense of humor. Otherwise, you'd hear a lot more complaining from the lefties of the world. Only about 10 percent of the population is left-handed, so we live in an overwhelmingly right-handed world. Some lefty difficulties are serious safety hazards, but most are just trivial, annoying and endlessly frustrating.
Opening a file cabinet, using a vegetable peeler, taking notes in a classroom, even opening the tailgate of an SUV are easy and convenient for right-handers, but not left-handers. The only obvious perk a left-hander has in today's world is using a drive-through window.
Dr. Marty Cala, who teaches a class in the human factors of engineering at Youngstown State University, says it's simple economics. Building a desk or a piece of factory equipment for left-handed use is a fine idea, but cost has to be considered. "We have one word of caution in creating an artificial environment -- remember left-handedness."
Just because the engineers remember it, though, doesn't mean they'll deal with it.
"We'd rather have a Type I planning error -- not enough left-handed desks -- than a Type II error -- not enough right-handed desks. Adjustable desks would be the safety net, but they do incur an expense. So the majority wins, and economics are there to drive it."
Obstacles: There are two classic obstacles a lefty faces, the physical and the social-cultural.
The physical obstacles have to do with tools, utensils, musical instruments, etc. Many common tools, like corkscrews, watch stems, telephone dials, screws and light bulbs, require left-to-right wrist turning movements more comfortable for right-handers.
Other things like golf clubs, can openers, keyboards and power tools are specifically designed to be used right-handed. Lefties have two choices: use the tool right-handed, or hold it backward so it can be used left-handed.
As an example, here's how it works in dentistry. Dental equipment is designed with right-handed dentists and hygienists in mind. Years ago, lefty hygienists were taught to work right-handed, to easily fit in at any office. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission put an end to that, and now lefty hygienists are trained left-handed.
The problem is, equipment and operatories haven't changed. Anne Nugent Guignon, R.D.H., M.P.H., who lectures and teaches nationally on workplace ergonomics, believes that's the wrong direction to take.
"A hygienist should be able to choose how she'll learn. I think lefty hygienists who work right-handed are just amazing. How do they do it? It's good for them, though, in the real world. If they go ahead and work right-handed, there's less chance they'll get hurt trying to stretch over equipment that wasn't designed for them. New equipment can be adjustable from left to right, but how often does a hygienist get new equipment?"
Adapting: The left-handed workers of every profession have a similar story, so they have learned to adapt. Left-handers, it is found, are generally more flexible in their hand usage than right-handers, simply because they have to be.
Social-cultural obstacles abound. The German word for left, for instance, is link, also meaning awkward. The German word for right is recht, meaning true, good and just. In Spanish, the word for left-handed is zurdo, which also means wrong.
In native American sign language, an elevated right hand means such things as bravery and power. A lowered left hand stands for negativity and destruction
Many older people have horror stories of being punished in school or at home for using the left hand to eat and write. As a result, natural lefties sometimes write and eat with the right hand and do everything else with the left.
What makes a lefty left-handed? It has something to do with the hemispheres of the brain, but researchers have not been able to isolate the exact key. Right-handers tend to be dominated by their left brain, which usually handles writing and speaking functions. Left-handers usually don't have a dominant side of the brain, says psychologist Mark Masaki of Youngstown State University.
If all that is too confusing, try this popular quote: "If the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handed people are in their right minds."