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For those of you who don't now, Sunday August 13th is International Left-Handers Day, so in homage to lefties everywhere, Bored Panda has compiled this list of annoying problems that all left-handers face on a daily basis.
If you're left-handed then you're probably aware that, whether you like it or not, this is a right-handed world. From scissors and desks to ring binders and ice-cream scoopers, everything seems to be designed with the righties in mind, which isn't really surprising when you realize that around 90% of the world's population is right-handed.
Still, there's a pretty impressive list of lefties crammed into that remaining 10%. Did you know that Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Aristotle and Julius Caesar were all left-handed for instance? And let's not forget Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong, Winston Churchill, Bill Gates, and Barack Obama. And Jimi Hendrix. And Kurt Cobain. And Paul McCartney. And David Bowie, Charlie Chaplin, Robert de Niro, Angelina Jolie, Keanu Reeves, Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, and Jon Stewart, plus a whole bunch of other people we don't have the space to write about. If we haven't made our point yet then what we're trying to say is that, although left-handed people might be in the minority, that doesn't make them any less awesome, and some of the world's most important contributions have in fact come from left-handers.
Despite this however, non-righties have had a pretty hard time throughout history. The word "left" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word "lyft", meaning "weak", and the word "sinister" actually derives from the Latin word meaning "left". Left-handers were also thought to consort with the devil, and being left-handed was sometimes considered proof that a woman was a witch and should therefore be persecuted or even executed! Fortunately those days are long gone though, and the only things left-handers have to worry about these days are using a can opener without making a mess, and trying to write without getting ink all over the side of their hand. Scroll down to see some other problems that the modern leftie has to face. Can you relate? Then let us know in the comments below and don't forget to vote. Happy International Left-Handers Day everybody!
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#5
Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
"Are you left handed?" and "How can you write like that?" Are sometimes a bit in the same percentages.
#10
Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
And then when you say you're lefthanded, they just don't know what to say anymore
#14
Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
Can we just take a moment to admire that solid straight line she erased?
#18
Michelle Mendoza 8 years ago
Ooh you've never seen a left handed person in all your life? Do you get this surprised like this every time you see a left handed person use their left hand to write? Cause I still get grown people who are like this...
#20
#25
Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
For everyone who uses a drawing tablet I advice to try to make it as easy as possible. I have 4 buttons and a ring. The buttons I linked to the functions: Undo (CTRL+Z), redo (Shift+CTRL+Z), brush (B), eraser (E). And for the rocker ring I did this: Brush size increase ( [ key), brush size decrease ( ] key), zoom in (CTRL + =), zoom out (CTRL + - And now everything goes a lot more easily for me personally. Maybe this will work for you too. rm-ip-tab-...1ea14a.jpg 
#28
HauntedForests 8 years ago
I have this problem too, but I'm right handed. So, needless to say, I don't know how to properly use a can opener. I've even broken a few. :/
#30
Deyan Atanasov 8 years ago
As well as this coffee cup. You can turn the cap at 180 degrees.
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Elizabeth Butler 8 years ago
Actually, I am right-handed but taught myself to mouse with my left hand due to tendonitis in my right hand--mouse-caused.
Jessie Busuttil 8 years ago
I loved it at work when IT had to login only to confuse the c**p out of them with my leftie settings on the mouse 😂
Šimon Špaček 8 years ago
Those tapes are a real struggle. Well, no. I'm right handed but I usually have to measure things which cannot be turned around so I just learned to read numbers upside down. And convert inches to centimeters.
Mikleo 8 years ago
Just go to mouse options and set the primary key to the right side.
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Connie Martin 8 years ago
I'm right-handed but a left-handed mouser. It's simple to reverse the left/right buttons in Settings.
Vic Cooper 6 years ago
Using the mouse with left hand is practically the same, as a lefty, you just get used to the buttons from start...
Rym Symone Dela Cruz 3 years ago
i am fine using a mouse on my right hand but the others are torture
Jesse Turner 5 years ago
I was a service tech. Means I worked on right-handed desks often. I respected it was their desk. I learned how to left click with the middle finger and right click with the index on a mouse that was still on the right side of the desk. Easy-peasy. I've never tweaked my own laptop as this is just natural now.
Karen Williams 6 years ago
When I use my mouse, I use my left hand, but when I worked, I used my right hand. On bo
Randall Thomas 6 years ago
flip the lid around on the mug. I got used to using a mouse right handed and I got used to reading measuring tapes upside down.
cindy lindsey 7 years ago
I'm left handed, I use my right hand for my mouse, so I can write with my left hand
Laura Betz 7 years ago
Way back in it’s infancy I learned to use a mouse with my right hand. People were jealous because I could scroll with my right hand and take written notes with my left. I love being ambidextrous
Shaina Wright 7 years ago
They make left handed tape measures, they're called reverse read tapes!
George Hughey 8 years ago
I almost always use my left hand on my mouse, as my right is busy ahhh . . . hmmmm. . . Just never mind what my right hand is doing ! !
Nicholas Groeneveld 8 years ago
I always use my left with a measuring tape since I mark with my right. Being left handed would be better
jetmastergames 8 years ago
I'm southpaw, but I use cutlery and a computer mouse the same as 'normal' Righties.
Kim MacLaren 8 years ago
I have gotten use to the mouse in the right hand, I don't think I could use it with my left
Dan Jennings 8 years ago
Tape measures are a lefty tool, pull with the right and mark with the left. The numbers will be right side up.
CrystalPanda Gaming 8 years ago
Rlly tho this world needs help. Why do they think left handed people are aliens
Bob Robertson 8 years ago
all the posts up until #30 have been either lefty-legit or funny... but whomever posted this one is JUST PLAIN STUPID. ...first off: the mouse. the software and drivers that are provided with that mouse actually force the user to view the customizable options and settings for the mouse functionality (unless you decide to ignore the part that explains how your new device works... which usually helps when you want the thing to, you know, WORK.) you can literally make every button on that mouse do whatever you want it to do. as if that weren't enpugh, THERE IS A SPECIFIC SETTING, ALL BY ITSELF, THAT SWAPS THE L/R MOUSE BUTTONS... FOR LEFT HANDED PEOPLE, PERHAPS?!?... stop being lazy, and RTFM!! (or at least go forth and f**king google!) next... coffee cup: remove lid. rotate 180°. re-attach. (pro tip: paying attention to the orientation of the lid with respect to the side of the cup with the handle on it PRIOR to attaching the lid will negate the need for the previous instructions!!!)
Bob Robertson 8 years ago
and lastly... tape measures? REALLY?.. must have never used one before, or must be clueless as to what they are for. (first of all, the orientation of the tape measure depends heavily on the physical characteristics of what you are measuring, as well as the space you are working in, etc... second, ITS A DAMN SEQUENTIAL NUMBER LINE!!! its not as if you are being forced to read shakespeare upside-down... as long as you can count, this is a non-issue!) the disadvantage this guy suffers (compared to other people, such as right-handers.. and ambidextrous people... and pretty much anyone with an IQ higher than their shoe size) has nothing to do with him being left-handed, and everything to do with him being UNBELIEVABLY F**KING STUPID.
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Geek In the Blue Toolbox 8 years ago
The mug lid can be turned, so what's wrong with that? And the measuring tape, you'd still get the numbers upside down, depending on what you are measuring. Unless this is saying left handed people can't read upside down numbers?
Hamlets twin 8 years ago
Alright these are just lazy... customisable mouse, just start the lid further along, and even as a righty I use measuring tapes upside down all the time.
Polleekin 8 years ago
The lid on travel mugs can be removed and I've never seen one that can't be flipped around for left handed dronkets
Deidre Leggett 8 years ago
I switch the mouse to right-click. I have to remind myself that if I pull the tape measure with my left hand, it's metric.
Michelle Mendoza 8 years ago
Those things you can just easily learn to use with your right hand.. lol
Laura Betz 8 years ago
I learned how to use a right handed mouse. That left me free to write with my left hand while scrolling with the mouse with my right hand. Coworkers were jealous of the efficiency
Patrick Davies 8 years ago
1) I've always used my mouse right handed. It just is that way. 2) The lid on a travel mug can be positioned anywhere in 360 degrees. 3) There are tape measures on the market that read left to right, and right to left. These shown are tape measures for left handed people. The tape is held in the right hand, and the left hand makes the appropriate marking. I'm starting to wonder if this thread isn't more about RIght handed people who don't understand compensation, and left handed people too stupid to have figured it out.
Mary Marxer 8 years ago
Surely one can pick up a cup with their non-dominant hand, or read simple numbers upside-down! Do you really need to read the message on the cup to drink from it? I see some of the problems, but there's a lot of unnecessary boo-hooing going on here
lasagna's underrated 8 years ago
They can, everyone can, it's just quite annoying.
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#35
Jane Van Balen 8 years ago
Helps being a lefty on the tennis court... can be quite off putting to opponents who are more used to playing against right handers (even for other lefties!)
#36
Šimon Špaček 8 years ago
Do you poor lefties know that Jewish write and read from right to left? Think about all those poor right-handed Jews!
#37
Yasna Minkovska 8 years ago
As a mother of a left handed kid, I've felt the same way, trying to use her lefty scissors :)
#38
alexa pretchet 8 years ago
Me as a right-hander always thought, the designs are for the others, not for me (Because I already know whats on my mug so the design would cheerish the others). Having it on "my side" keeps confusing me a little bit...
#39
Sk123 ILP123 8 years ago
Is it a thing where people only lift cups with their dominant hand, I subconsciously alternate between the two
#40
HauntedForests 8 years ago
I think the reason for this is because it would be really cool to meet someone who is ambidextrous? That's my guess anyway.
#44
Shalini Gogna 8 years ago
When you see another lefty and you feel a littke excuted like "well hello, we are 9% of the worlds population don't you know?"
#45
#50
Markus McCloud 8 years ago
I'm so used to Japanese manga, I instinctively do this for every graphic novel.
#55
Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
This is the second time in my life I see that kind of spoon. The first time was also in this gallery, a few minutes ago.
#56
Clifford Smith 8 years ago
The struggle is looking at someone holding a pen like that! I write with my left hand, but I have no idea how to write if I held a pen that way!
#57
Elizabeth Gatti 8 years ago
Exactly!! Went to Interpreter Training and as I signed , the instructor (DEAF) said something is not right.....so I learned to to use right hand as dominant. Had 30 year career as Interp and once in a while I would screw up and switch to left as dominant.
#59
#62
Marie Stoia Joseph 8 years ago
I'm so glad it's not just me. I never thought about this being a righthand design but I can only get them to work half the time and then not well lol
#63
madcow 3417 8 years ago
Are there right-handed pens, or is this just a nerd problem? *whispers* Cross Tech 3 is pretty awesome.
#64
Sasy 8 years ago
I am a touch confused by this one, I understand the motion aspect, but I guess I believed check marks were like symbols, they have to be the way intended ? example is the L in Lefties it is essentially the same thing, but left hand writers don't write them the opposite way...sorry not trying to be a rightie just had never experienced a left handed checkmark before
#65
Tiny Dynamine 8 years ago
Not surprising, is it, considering 90% of people are right-handed...
#67
Šimon Špaček 8 years ago
I'm not sure about your pot but on mine you just need a screwdriver and about ten seconds to change this.
#69
#73
Šimon Špaček 8 years ago
I had similar. In Europe. So when I hold it my right hand I saw US. But then I found a trick! Just hold the jar in the less handy hand and my problem was fixed! And I didn't share it on Internet.
#75
Markus McCloud 8 years ago
You think yours is bad? I'm right-handed, and my handwriting is fairly atrocious!
#76
#77
Nomadus Aureus 8 years ago
The only thing I use the right-handed way. Can't get used to a lefty mouse...
#78
Liorah Balilah 8 years ago
Gross motor skills are not difficult with the opposite hand. So it should not be difficult turn on a tap or pull a lever etc. Writing is another story.
#81
#84
Master Markus 8 years ago
I initially thought that I was supposed to be looking at the nail polish that seriously needs to be removed or touched up.
#85
#86
Patrick Davies 8 years ago
My mother is also left handed, and she just took a normal guitar, a non-cutaway design, and reversed the string order. Voila, a left hand strung guitar.
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What do you think ?
Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
The strange thing with me is: I am left-handed with writing and drawing, but everything else (using scissors, playing guitar, using the mouse) I'm doing with my right hand. I have only met one other person in my life who has exactly this same thing.
John L 8 years ago
I used to think of myself as being left handed, because I write left handed and use it for all of my dexterity. However, I also do things right handed, and do a lot of power movement right handed. Its called "Cross-Dominance(or mixed laterality) , and is considered rare. I'm surprised so many here are addressing this. But take heart, people with cross-dominance are usually smarter, and more imaginative. But we have more depression on the negative side. I just thought I would chime in here on something that has been on my mind for decades. :D
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Marissa Bradshaw 8 years ago
You know what? I'm a lefty and I don't think about it. It's a first-world problem and I have so many other legitimate hurdles in life--
Christina Brundage 8 years ago
I'm left-handed and I think these people have very easy lives if this is the worst problem they have.
Rivkaka 8 years ago
But these were never supposed to proclaim as their biggest problems rather just some annoyances. Like we all have in our daily lives.
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The Cappy 8 years ago
As a left-hander myself, let me just say: what an incredibly trivial list of horrors. Inconveniences, some of them, but minor ones. Such drama queenery.
Eileen Joy 8 years ago
I think you and Marissa are supposed to understand it's all in fun. Plus, I don't know any lefty who is not super-proud of being a lefty.
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Tasha Lacroix 8 years ago
Aside from the coffee cup issue I thought this post was just a bunch of sniveling, woe is me, bs. I'm a left handed person who learned to be efficient with both hands. What's so hard about a can opener? or a faucet? get a quick dry pen and tighten it up when it feels loose. I've got all of you beat on the rare factor, I'm a lefty with blue eyes and type O- blood. :P lol
Tasha Lacroix 8 years ago
and what if right handed people refused to flush their toilet or open their car door because they had to use their left hand? what about refrigerators with the handle on the right, or any door with the handle on the right? and the hot water faucet on a split set up?
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José Sousa 8 years ago
we right-handed people have that notebook rings problem too....in the other 50% of the pages...
William Jacobs 8 years ago
One time I came home from music and asked my parents "Why aren't there left handed Orchestras?"
Zori the degu 8 years ago
I think that all those products featured are rather discriminating indeed, did you know that around 10% of the human population is left-handed? Can't understand why they don't bear this in mind when manufacturing new products and stuff. Despite that, plus all the problems I have in my every day routine as a left-handed person, I'm proud to be a bit different and I'm sure all fellow "lefties" feel the same way. :)
Lazy Panda 8 years ago
Just a couple of these, I can see as problems for people who are right handed also. But it made me realize that I write and use scissors with my right hand, but I eat and do everything else with my left, is anyone else like that?
Zori the degu 8 years ago
I use the computer mouse with my right hand, I got the worst "Paint" drawings at school.
Load More Replies... Heather Williams 5 years ago
I am naturally right handed but when I was young I injured my right hand and could not use it for two weeks so I taught myself to be ambidextrous (yes, I was a strange child). Now I confuse my colleagues because I use the computer mouse with my left hand. I also use a knife and fork like a left handed person. And I use both hands interchangeably for many things. I also cannot tell left from right easily.
Camrin Emmons 6 years ago
I am left-handed, but I can use my right hand to use the mouse, eat, drink, use scissors. Basically anything that was bothersome to do left-handed (except write), I learned to do right-handed. I think is pretty common for lefties.
Paul Mazan 6 years ago
My favorite sport when waiting for my wife is asking if they have a left- handed sewing machine or Chainsaw, depending on the store.
Cindy Snow 6 years ago
I'm glad I at least don't have this problem. I have many others though.
Sue Prewitt 6 years ago
Most of this is baloney. We left-handers have ways we adapt, such as using a ruler upside down, no biggie. I bought some stuff for left handers once and couldn't use them I was so used to the adapting. Except for scissors, gotta have left handed scissors
William Bell 7 years ago
I was a lefty as a kid but had a 1st grade teacher that made me do everything right handed. I ended up left eye dominate but mostly right handed. Ended up having to wear a patch over my left eye to make the right eye dominate. I still (I'm 62 yo) do things either just left handed or either. Always kind of surprises me when I realize I'm eating, Or using a hammer or shooting left handed.
Brandon Reiser 8 years ago
Did I really get to the last page and see a shoe ad that said to start the school year off on the right foot?? FU Famous Footwear. Can't even look at funny stuff about lefties without more lefty discrimination, lol.
Anita Jean Maria Mayle 8 years ago
Work on a turning maschine as a left hander or use a bread or meat sliceing maschine.! Nearly impossible..We always have to use the stump side of a knife and the is NO way of using a fish knife or a butter knife... I could go on forever...
Mirela Marin 8 years ago
hey some of the problems we come across too, right handed people... like those parts from notebooks while writing, they come in our way too, at some point.. let's not overreact about things like this... i do things with my left hand as well, like eating at times and is not the end of the world
Leslie Ritter 8 years ago
No one mentioned cameras. I take pictures upside down and then need to rotate each pic in my files
Sheryl Clifford 8 years ago
I write with left hand. My Mother told me that at the age of 4, I started eating w/ my right hand, to avoid comments. I can eat with either, bowl, bat a ball, with either. Many years ago, I had an older gentleman tell me, the reason I felt and appeared clumsy when attempting to bowl, was due to I had mixed dominance, and was not sure which way to Lead off. I have only bowled a few times in my life, and the few times I attempted to play pool, I felt awkward with either hand, as well. This has caused me problems, because I have a hard time explaining to people, which way to turn, as I do not automatically know my left from my right. I have to focus, before instructing someone to turn left or right, and I often get it wrong. I can do most things, with either hand, but don't know my left or right. Thanks Panda. I was born in 1948 and which 'handed' I am has been an issue for too long. Nice to know, there are a few out there like me. And it's not a big deal.
Ocean Psalms 8 years ago
I write and draw with my left hand and cook with both... using utensils is not that hard, y'all. Scissors and can openers aren't that hard either?? Yeah, binders suck a*s but just... take the paper out? Close the binder? Put the paper on top and just write?? Idk, I just feel like a lot of these issues can be avoided. Also, learning to play a right-handed guitar isn't all that hard either.
Angela DeVito 8 years ago
I'm back in college and forgot how messy it is for me to draw or write. I do everything left handed except use scissors..I'm proud..messy but proud
Marriann Douglas 8 years ago
The things with the tin openers annoy me, because I'm left handed and although manual openers are hard to work, we have an electric one and it helps so much. Everything else, scissors and using a mouse, I've adapted. However, when I was in school, we didn't have the luxury of separate desks, we had rectangle ones where two sat, and unless there was a seating chart, I was always on the left side as it was easier to manage. But using pots and potato peelers and ladles - oh my! I have so much bother with them.
Marilyn Guinnane 8 years ago
My parents were both right-handed, my brother & sister were born left-handed, and I am ambidextrous. Well, actually so was my mom. Being ambidextrous is advantageous. I can eat comfortably with my left hand and often inadvertently do, and am left-handed in sports. I can write with my left hand with a bit of practice. I've been asked if I was born left-handed and did my parents force me to use my right hand? Absolutely not. They didn't care one whit that my siblings were southpaws.
Lize Dowler 8 years ago
The coffee heart / ball sac made me laugh out loud. Another lefty annoyance I can highlight is that I am a Garment tech and dress maker and measuring clothes being a huge part of my day, I had to learn to read a tape measure upside -down
Jacqlyn C Weir 8 years ago
I'm surprised there was nothing listed about power tools. Because I guessing the main reason lefties have life span percentage is because...
Jacqlyn C Weir 8 years ago
Of power tool accidents and the fact we are roughly 10% of the population.
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Sid Savage 8 years ago
Ever try using a camcorder with a flip screen impossible. The most satisfying thing for me is watching my right handed friends trying to use my left handed cork screw they look a me in a confused state as I say welcome to my world.
Emilia Locke 8 years ago
I feel for you lefties. I could not imagine a left handed world.. . .I think you should just come out of the closet and write from left to right and flip the book so you start on the last page which would be the first page for you. Would that work? Teachers and educators and I am sorry all of us rightiews are such blockwill just have to learn to read in the opposite direction. . . . trying to be helpful and I'm sorry all of us righties are suck block-heads and I must day, after reading the above, I never rally knew how difficult life is for the left handed. . .
Bob Carley 8 years ago
Us leftie men can be secure in knowing the flush handle on most toilets was designed just for us.
Teresa Williams 8 years ago
Left handed in most things but prefer to use right hand or either for , ironing, pic work, gardening, cooking, even carving meat !! using mobile....guess I'm just clever!!🙃🙃
TheOther Left 8 years ago
Left handed for everything. Calligraphy teacher told me there was no point in my taking his class. But they do make left handed calligraphy pens, and you figure it out. Best thing in college was leaving the lab computer mouse I was assigned to set up for left handers. I do hear "how can you write like that" a lot, but I have better handwriting than anyone I know. And it's still not as awkward as this one woman I saw writing a check....she had to turn the paper vertical and she wrote that way. With her right hand. Weird to watch. It's easier to teach kids stuff if you are left handed and they aren't. Just tell them to mirror you. I was an awesome batting coach lol.
Theresa Gray 8 years ago
i write with my right hand and do everything else with left hand,peel potatoes, hold drinks ,paint and everything else
Edie Ohorodnyk 8 years ago
I'm almost 60 years old and a full lefty. I have always adapted to right handed objects. Sometimes uncomfortable but not the end of the world. No problem using scissors...irons used to be for righty's only...now the cord is in the middle. That was a nice change. I just came upon my first ladle for right handed only...that was problem....made a little mess. Desks and binders for sure a bit of a nuisance. But I believe that through all the small missteps we lefties are better people for it. We forge ahead and make due... Humility rules in a lefties world. Happy Lefties Day!
Grace Young 8 years ago
I have a comment/question. My best friend has an 8 year old son who used to be left handed. Used to be because when he began learning to pick up toys or play with objects he used his left hand more often. My friend then decided that she was going to change that and began making her son pick up toys or use utensils with his right hand. Previous to making her final decision she called me to ask my advice and I suggested to her that instead of totally making either hand the more dominant why not teach him to be able to use both hands equally. I am embarking on my own self-discovery of becoming ambidextrous to learn to write using either hand. She decided to go with her original plan and taught her son to be right-handed. My question is: Is it detrimental in any way to a child who is comfortable using their left hand for some time and then being made to use their hand instead?
JillVille Child Care 8 years ago
My mother and sister and I are all lefties. My oldest is as well. My mom has to have all Left handed items, like a computer mouse, etc. My sister and I adapted. I can do way more with my right hand than she can, I just use the mouse with my right hand and deal. We are supposed to be more creative as Lefties, so why aren't we coming up with better ways to use right-handed items? My oldest can't adapt with most objects either. It's so weird. I just forced it knowing it would just be easier to cope than try to have everything work for me.
Pamala Vela 8 years ago
I remember a teacher chiding a kid in second grade for picking up the pencil with his left hand. I asked her why on recess and she told me it is weird. I told her that both of my parents are left handed and she told me my parents were weird. Fast forward to her next dental appointment. I was in the office on a non-school day (Dad is a dentist) and she came in. I asked her is she still thought my parents were weird.
criminalgirl 8 years ago
You know what..you are left handed not disabled. You have been like this since birth no doubt? I know someone who has no arms, he just got on with it from birth, no gripes, nothing. Why don't you just look for workarounds instead of looking for sympathy. Your moral outrage is misplaced with so many people with real problems.
Alison Jones 7 years ago
I think you've completely missed the tongue-in-cheek tone of the article. The only person I'm feeling moral outrage from is you.
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Stanimira Deleva 8 years ago
Half of the things I can relate - the other half - c'mon - we are not that pathetic! Except for the can opener - this is hell
Darrel Jeoph 8 years ago
Good thing I didn't smudge the pencil on my hands, it just don't happen to me. And oh! I can open a can, write with a right hand desk and cut using scissors properly even though I'm a Lefty .😊
Benski Trenkins 8 years ago
A lot of these items are clearly not suitable for both left and right handed people, due to shape - ergonomical design. But in a few others I see room for improvement where small changes could make them suitable for both. Such a shame not many producers see that. They clearly need a lefthanded person in their team to point that out. Ice scoop: make it so you can rotate the release mechanism 180 degrees. Same goes for thermo coffee mug: seperate handle from mug so it can be rotated. I have seen school desks that can be flipped easely but obviously in that case the desk itself becomes more complex and more expensive. Btw I am right handed myself. tried just holding scissor with my left hand just to experience the issue... darn! Feel sorry for you guys! When you are right handed, you don't realize just how many things are torture to left handed people. But with a little thinking a lot can be solved... not everything... but simple solutions like I suggested, can help a lot. Now we need to convince manufacturers!
Alexandru Ionut Rosu 8 years ago
from what i can understand from this post is that left handed people are r******d and can't use their both hands....no offence but if u are a left handed and you can't use a scissor or a mug...u have no problem with ur hand,you have a problem with your brain...just my opinion,no offence :)
Marla Horosko Strachan 8 years ago
I'm mainly right handed but I'm left in golf , batting,and racket sports .Darts both
Nick Tsonis 8 years ago
My biggest problem being left handed is pressing the safety button on a hand held power tool
Victoria Rapp 8 years ago
I am pretty ambidextrous, cutting, mouse use, baseball,. Writing has never been a problem however you just have to turn your paper to the right, then you do not drag your hand through your ink. Penmanship is a little more upright and backhand, but that is the point of cursive, individuality. Pet peeve, the measuring cup with the writing on the wrong side. Knitting, use a circular needle. it give you more balance so you can knit right-handed. Why make everything impossibly difficult.
Margie Lazou 8 years ago
I see how some of these things are real bummers, but well, I am a rightie and I use my left hand for lots of things, including scissors sometimes and cups and stuff, so maybe exaggerated a bit?
Marysia Jawłowska 8 years ago
Sorry, this is so forced and stretched and so first world problems. There are very few things people really need to do with their dominant hand and plenty of objects shown in the photos are available in perfectly symmetrical version.
Mia-Francesca Sambataro 8 years ago
Im not a huge fan of these "[Im short/left handed] problems" okay, the world gets it, youre slightly "different" from the rest of us
Daria B 8 years ago
My mother told me how I was naturally born a lef-handed one. But she trained me from the start to use my right hand, becausd everything in the world is adjusted for right-handed people. Additionally, when I was about 10, I had some health problems with my right hand, which forced me to use my left for a while. So now, while my dominant hand is my right hand indeed, I don't mind using my left one for simple daily tasks. Also, when I was learning to ride the bicycle, I noticed it was easier for me to try leading it with my left leg first.
S Missions 8 years ago
Office table looks like this : http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/tables/dressing-tables/brimnes-dressing-table-chest-of-2-drawers-white-spr-89122376/ There's no place for a even a coffee cup on the left side.
Sasy 8 years ago
This whole post made me sad, and want to learn how to make all the things so that I can make them left handed, like for instance, why isn't there such a thing as a spout clip that someone can just add to a pan and pour whichever way they damn well please. There are things I am confused about too, like binders, does turning them upside down not work or would that just mean you hit the ring. I write with my paper always turned horizontally, and write outwards, as a rightie I am just odd. The only time I have encountered a Leftie to see things done over time, is that he always won the start of darts, because you are supposed to see who goes first by shooting with opposite hand, and he was able to throw with both lol
Mitchel Mote 8 years ago
I tend to jsut take the paperout of ring binders and then put it back in when I am done. I avoid spiral bound notebooks and go for top bound when possible. I used to go to my teachers when they required us to keep notebooks and graded us on our notes and say "Look, I am going to be keeping my notes from front to back because I am left handed. " I never use pencils, only pens when writing. People also don't realize that writing takes longer for left-handed people because we are pushing the pen and also that it is more fatiquing to the hand because of the extra resistance. This is not a joke. Write 20 pages long hand with your left hand and see how much worse it feels than with your right.
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Sarah Lennie 8 years ago
Right handed people piping up with "solutions" end up looking like condescending smart-arses.
Ashley Scott 8 years ago
The amount of right handed people in the comment s giving "advice" or complaining about "smudges" is ridiculous
Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
The strange thing with me is: I am left-handed with writing and drawing, but everything else (using scissors, playing guitar, using the mouse) I'm doing with my right hand. I have only met one other person in my life who has exactly this same thing.
John L 8 years ago
I used to think of myself as being left handed, because I write left handed and use it for all of my dexterity. However, I also do things right handed, and do a lot of power movement right handed. Its called "Cross-Dominance(or mixed laterality) , and is considered rare. I'm surprised so many here are addressing this. But take heart, people with cross-dominance are usually smarter, and more imaginative. But we have more depression on the negative side. I just thought I would chime in here on something that has been on my mind for decades. :D
Load More Replies... Marissa Bradshaw 8 years ago
You know what? I'm a lefty and I don't think about it. It's a first-world problem and I have so many other legitimate hurdles in life--
Christina Brundage 8 years ago
I'm left-handed and I think these people have very easy lives if this is the worst problem they have.
Rivkaka 8 years ago
But these were never supposed to proclaim as their biggest problems rather just some annoyances. Like we all have in our daily lives.
Load More Replies... The Cappy 8 years ago
As a left-hander myself, let me just say: what an incredibly trivial list of horrors. Inconveniences, some of them, but minor ones. Such drama queenery.
Eileen Joy 8 years ago
I think you and Marissa are supposed to understand it's all in fun. Plus, I don't know any lefty who is not super-proud of being a lefty.
Load More Replies... Tasha Lacroix 8 years ago
Aside from the coffee cup issue I thought this post was just a bunch of sniveling, woe is me, bs. I'm a left handed person who learned to be efficient with both hands. What's so hard about a can opener? or a faucet? get a quick dry pen and tighten it up when it feels loose. I've got all of you beat on the rare factor, I'm a lefty with blue eyes and type O- blood. :P lol
Tasha Lacroix 8 years ago
and what if right handed people refused to flush their toilet or open their car door because they had to use their left hand? what about refrigerators with the handle on the right, or any door with the handle on the right? and the hot water faucet on a split set up?
Load More Replies... José Sousa 8 years ago
we right-handed people have that notebook rings problem too....in the other 50% of the pages...
William Jacobs 8 years ago
One time I came home from music and asked my parents "Why aren't there left handed Orchestras?"
Zori the degu 8 years ago
I think that all those products featured are rather discriminating indeed, did you know that around 10% of the human population is left-handed? Can't understand why they don't bear this in mind when manufacturing new products and stuff. Despite that, plus all the problems I have in my every day routine as a left-handed person, I'm proud to be a bit different and I'm sure all fellow "lefties" feel the same way. :)
Lazy Panda 8 years ago
Just a couple of these, I can see as problems for people who are right handed also. But it made me realize that I write and use scissors with my right hand, but I eat and do everything else with my left, is anyone else like that?
Zori the degu 8 years ago
I use the computer mouse with my right hand, I got the worst "Paint" drawings at school.
Load More Replies... Heather Williams 5 years ago
I am naturally right handed but when I was young I injured my right hand and could not use it for two weeks so I taught myself to be ambidextrous (yes, I was a strange child). Now I confuse my colleagues because I use the computer mouse with my left hand. I also use a knife and fork like a left handed person. And I use both hands interchangeably for many things. I also cannot tell left from right easily.
Camrin Emmons 6 years ago
I am left-handed, but I can use my right hand to use the mouse, eat, drink, use scissors. Basically anything that was bothersome to do left-handed (except write), I learned to do right-handed. I think is pretty common for lefties.
Paul Mazan 6 years ago
My favorite sport when waiting for my wife is asking if they have a left- handed sewing machine or Chainsaw, depending on the store.
Cindy Snow 6 years ago
I'm glad I at least don't have this problem. I have many others though.
Sue Prewitt 6 years ago
Most of this is baloney. We left-handers have ways we adapt, such as using a ruler upside down, no biggie. I bought some stuff for left handers once and couldn't use them I was so used to the adapting. Except for scissors, gotta have left handed scissors
William Bell 7 years ago
I was a lefty as a kid but had a 1st grade teacher that made me do everything right handed. I ended up left eye dominate but mostly right handed. Ended up having to wear a patch over my left eye to make the right eye dominate. I still (I'm 62 yo) do things either just left handed or either. Always kind of surprises me when I realize I'm eating, Or using a hammer or shooting left handed.
Brandon Reiser 8 years ago
Did I really get to the last page and see a shoe ad that said to start the school year off on the right foot?? FU Famous Footwear. Can't even look at funny stuff about lefties without more lefty discrimination, lol.
Anita Jean Maria Mayle 8 years ago
Work on a turning maschine as a left hander or use a bread or meat sliceing maschine.! Nearly impossible..We always have to use the stump side of a knife and the is NO way of using a fish knife or a butter knife... I could go on forever...
Mirela Marin 8 years ago
hey some of the problems we come across too, right handed people... like those parts from notebooks while writing, they come in our way too, at some point.. let's not overreact about things like this... i do things with my left hand as well, like eating at times and is not the end of the world
Leslie Ritter 8 years ago
No one mentioned cameras. I take pictures upside down and then need to rotate each pic in my files
Sheryl Clifford 8 years ago
I write with left hand. My Mother told me that at the age of 4, I started eating w/ my right hand, to avoid comments. I can eat with either, bowl, bat a ball, with either. Many years ago, I had an older gentleman tell me, the reason I felt and appeared clumsy when attempting to bowl, was due to I had mixed dominance, and was not sure which way to Lead off. I have only bowled a few times in my life, and the few times I attempted to play pool, I felt awkward with either hand, as well. This has caused me problems, because I have a hard time explaining to people, which way to turn, as I do not automatically know my left from my right. I have to focus, before instructing someone to turn left or right, and I often get it wrong. I can do most things, with either hand, but don't know my left or right. Thanks Panda. I was born in 1948 and which 'handed' I am has been an issue for too long. Nice to know, there are a few out there like me. And it's not a big deal.
Ocean Psalms 8 years ago
I write and draw with my left hand and cook with both... using utensils is not that hard, y'all. Scissors and can openers aren't that hard either?? Yeah, binders suck a*s but just... take the paper out? Close the binder? Put the paper on top and just write?? Idk, I just feel like a lot of these issues can be avoided. Also, learning to play a right-handed guitar isn't all that hard either.
Angela DeVito 8 years ago
I'm back in college and forgot how messy it is for me to draw or write. I do everything left handed except use scissors..I'm proud..messy but proud
Marriann Douglas 8 years ago
The things with the tin openers annoy me, because I'm left handed and although manual openers are hard to work, we have an electric one and it helps so much. Everything else, scissors and using a mouse, I've adapted. However, when I was in school, we didn't have the luxury of separate desks, we had rectangle ones where two sat, and unless there was a seating chart, I was always on the left side as it was easier to manage. But using pots and potato peelers and ladles - oh my! I have so much bother with them.
Marilyn Guinnane 8 years ago
My parents were both right-handed, my brother & sister were born left-handed, and I am ambidextrous. Well, actually so was my mom. Being ambidextrous is advantageous. I can eat comfortably with my left hand and often inadvertently do, and am left-handed in sports. I can write with my left hand with a bit of practice. I've been asked if I was born left-handed and did my parents force me to use my right hand? Absolutely not. They didn't care one whit that my siblings were southpaws.
Lize Dowler 8 years ago
The coffee heart / ball sac made me laugh out loud. Another lefty annoyance I can highlight is that I am a Garment tech and dress maker and measuring clothes being a huge part of my day, I had to learn to read a tape measure upside -down
Jacqlyn C Weir 8 years ago
I'm surprised there was nothing listed about power tools. Because I guessing the main reason lefties have life span percentage is because...
Jacqlyn C Weir 8 years ago
Of power tool accidents and the fact we are roughly 10% of the population.
Load More Replies... Sid Savage 8 years ago
Ever try using a camcorder with a flip screen impossible. The most satisfying thing for me is watching my right handed friends trying to use my left handed cork screw they look a me in a confused state as I say welcome to my world.
Emilia Locke 8 years ago
I feel for you lefties. I could not imagine a left handed world.. . .I think you should just come out of the closet and write from left to right and flip the book so you start on the last page which would be the first page for you. Would that work? Teachers and educators and I am sorry all of us rightiews are such blockwill just have to learn to read in the opposite direction. . . . trying to be helpful and I'm sorry all of us righties are suck block-heads and I must day, after reading the above, I never rally knew how difficult life is for the left handed. . .
Bob Carley 8 years ago
Us leftie men can be secure in knowing the flush handle on most toilets was designed just for us.
Teresa Williams 8 years ago
Left handed in most things but prefer to use right hand or either for , ironing, pic work, gardening, cooking, even carving meat !! using mobile....guess I'm just clever!!🙃🙃
TheOther Left 8 years ago
Left handed for everything. Calligraphy teacher told me there was no point in my taking his class. But they do make left handed calligraphy pens, and you figure it out. Best thing in college was leaving the lab computer mouse I was assigned to set up for left handers. I do hear "how can you write like that" a lot, but I have better handwriting than anyone I know. And it's still not as awkward as this one woman I saw writing a check....she had to turn the paper vertical and she wrote that way. With her right hand. Weird to watch. It's easier to teach kids stuff if you are left handed and they aren't. Just tell them to mirror you. I was an awesome batting coach lol.
Theresa Gray 8 years ago
i write with my right hand and do everything else with left hand,peel potatoes, hold drinks ,paint and everything else
Edie Ohorodnyk 8 years ago
I'm almost 60 years old and a full lefty. I have always adapted to right handed objects. Sometimes uncomfortable but not the end of the world. No problem using scissors...irons used to be for righty's only...now the cord is in the middle. That was a nice change. I just came upon my first ladle for right handed only...that was problem....made a little mess. Desks and binders for sure a bit of a nuisance. But I believe that through all the small missteps we lefties are better people for it. We forge ahead and make due... Humility rules in a lefties world. Happy Lefties Day!
Grace Young 8 years ago
I have a comment/question. My best friend has an 8 year old son who used to be left handed. Used to be because when he began learning to pick up toys or play with objects he used his left hand more often. My friend then decided that she was going to change that and began making her son pick up toys or use utensils with his right hand. Previous to making her final decision she called me to ask my advice and I suggested to her that instead of totally making either hand the more dominant why not teach him to be able to use both hands equally. I am embarking on my own self-discovery of becoming ambidextrous to learn to write using either hand. She decided to go with her original plan and taught her son to be right-handed. My question is: Is it detrimental in any way to a child who is comfortable using their left hand for some time and then being made to use their hand instead?
JillVille Child Care 8 years ago
My mother and sister and I are all lefties. My oldest is as well. My mom has to have all Left handed items, like a computer mouse, etc. My sister and I adapted. I can do way more with my right hand than she can, I just use the mouse with my right hand and deal. We are supposed to be more creative as Lefties, so why aren't we coming up with better ways to use right-handed items? My oldest can't adapt with most objects either. It's so weird. I just forced it knowing it would just be easier to cope than try to have everything work for me.
Pamala Vela 8 years ago
I remember a teacher chiding a kid in second grade for picking up the pencil with his left hand. I asked her why on recess and she told me it is weird. I told her that both of my parents are left handed and she told me my parents were weird. Fast forward to her next dental appointment. I was in the office on a non-school day (Dad is a dentist) and she came in. I asked her is she still thought my parents were weird.
criminalgirl 8 years ago
You know what..you are left handed not disabled. You have been like this since birth no doubt? I know someone who has no arms, he just got on with it from birth, no gripes, nothing. Why don't you just look for workarounds instead of looking for sympathy. Your moral outrage is misplaced with so many people with real problems.
Alison Jones 7 years ago
I think you've completely missed the tongue-in-cheek tone of the article. The only person I'm feeling moral outrage from is you.
Load More Replies... Stanimira Deleva 8 years ago
Half of the things I can relate - the other half - c'mon - we are not that pathetic! Except for the can opener - this is hell
Darrel Jeoph 8 years ago
Good thing I didn't smudge the pencil on my hands, it just don't happen to me. And oh! I can open a can, write with a right hand desk and cut using scissors properly even though I'm a Lefty .😊
Benski Trenkins 8 years ago
A lot of these items are clearly not suitable for both left and right handed people, due to shape - ergonomical design. But in a few others I see room for improvement where small changes could make them suitable for both. Such a shame not many producers see that. They clearly need a lefthanded person in their team to point that out. Ice scoop: make it so you can rotate the release mechanism 180 degrees. Same goes for thermo coffee mug: seperate handle from mug so it can be rotated. I have seen school desks that can be flipped easely but obviously in that case the desk itself becomes more complex and more expensive. Btw I am right handed myself. tried just holding scissor with my left hand just to experience the issue... darn! Feel sorry for you guys! When you are right handed, you don't realize just how many things are torture to left handed people. But with a little thinking a lot can be solved... not everything... but simple solutions like I suggested, can help a lot. Now we need to convince manufacturers!
Alexandru Ionut Rosu 8 years ago
from what i can understand from this post is that left handed people are r******d and can't use their both hands....no offence but if u are a left handed and you can't use a scissor or a mug...u have no problem with ur hand,you have a problem with your brain...just my opinion,no offence :)
Marla Horosko Strachan 8 years ago
I'm mainly right handed but I'm left in golf , batting,and racket sports .Darts both
Nick Tsonis 8 years ago
My biggest problem being left handed is pressing the safety button on a hand held power tool
Victoria Rapp 8 years ago
I am pretty ambidextrous, cutting, mouse use, baseball,. Writing has never been a problem however you just have to turn your paper to the right, then you do not drag your hand through your ink. Penmanship is a little more upright and backhand, but that is the point of cursive, individuality. Pet peeve, the measuring cup with the writing on the wrong side. Knitting, use a circular needle. it give you more balance so you can knit right-handed. Why make everything impossibly difficult.
Margie Lazou 8 years ago
I see how some of these things are real bummers, but well, I am a rightie and I use my left hand for lots of things, including scissors sometimes and cups and stuff, so maybe exaggerated a bit?
Marysia Jawłowska 8 years ago
Sorry, this is so forced and stretched and so first world problems. There are very few things people really need to do with their dominant hand and plenty of objects shown in the photos are available in perfectly symmetrical version.
Mia-Francesca Sambataro 8 years ago
Im not a huge fan of these "[Im short/left handed] problems" okay, the world gets it, youre slightly "different" from the rest of us
Daria B 8 years ago
My mother told me how I was naturally born a lef-handed one. But she trained me from the start to use my right hand, becausd everything in the world is adjusted for right-handed people. Additionally, when I was about 10, I had some health problems with my right hand, which forced me to use my left for a while. So now, while my dominant hand is my right hand indeed, I don't mind using my left one for simple daily tasks. Also, when I was learning to ride the bicycle, I noticed it was easier for me to try leading it with my left leg first.
S Missions 8 years ago
Office table looks like this : http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/tables/dressing-tables/brimnes-dressing-table-chest-of-2-drawers-white-spr-89122376/ There's no place for a even a coffee cup on the left side.
Sasy 8 years ago
This whole post made me sad, and want to learn how to make all the things so that I can make them left handed, like for instance, why isn't there such a thing as a spout clip that someone can just add to a pan and pour whichever way they damn well please. There are things I am confused about too, like binders, does turning them upside down not work or would that just mean you hit the ring. I write with my paper always turned horizontally, and write outwards, as a rightie I am just odd. The only time I have encountered a Leftie to see things done over time, is that he always won the start of darts, because you are supposed to see who goes first by shooting with opposite hand, and he was able to throw with both lol
Mitchel Mote 8 years ago
I tend to jsut take the paperout of ring binders and then put it back in when I am done. I avoid spiral bound notebooks and go for top bound when possible. I used to go to my teachers when they required us to keep notebooks and graded us on our notes and say "Look, I am going to be keeping my notes from front to back because I am left handed. " I never use pencils, only pens when writing. People also don't realize that writing takes longer for left-handed people because we are pushing the pen and also that it is more fatiquing to the hand because of the extra resistance. This is not a joke. Write 20 pages long hand with your left hand and see how much worse it feels than with your right.
Load More Replies... Sarah Lennie 8 years ago
Right handed people piping up with "solutions" end up looking like condescending smart-arses.
Ashley Scott 8 years ago
The amount of right handed people in the comment s giving "advice" or complaining about "smudges" is ridiculous
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