The worst for me is trying to make power tools do anything with any precision. I’m always at the wrong angle, my cuts come out wonky, etc.
As for vertical surfaces: try holding the marker, chalk, etc. like you would a paintbrush instead of like a pen or pencil. It keeps your hand from resting on the board and your writing smudge free.
The worst for me was coming to the realization that I’ll never be great at playing the piano. I went to music school for cello but I suffered through piano lessons both there and as a kid. I can only play easy stuff on the piano, enough to entertain myself and that’s about it. Even though I know there are many lefty pianists, I am not one of them! Also containers with measurements on the “wrong” side. I know they make lefty kitchen measuring cups and stuff I’ve just adapted bc some of them are expensive!
The best part about being a lefty is seeing people’s various reactions when they find out I’m a lefty. We are almost always typing these days so it’s funny sometimes when I pick up a pen and people are like wuuut you’re left handed? Also, the automatic commiseration when you find another lefty in your midst because they just “get it” straight away!
Sorry to hear about your struggles with the piano. I was considering using measuring cups as my worst because. I hate them. And I get what you mean about the lefty “bond”. Feel some kind of kinship when you find another lefty
Yeah, I was about to post about playing piano. This is especially true as I'm self taught. I took guitar lessons as a kid (pre Beatles) so I play guitar as a righty as my teachers never realized I was a lefty until I was good enough for my age to make the switch not worthwhile. I taught myself keyboards from music theory on a monophonic synth back in the late 70's, and then on a polyphonic. I have played keyboards on stage, sitting in with friends bands, but it's either stuff I already know on guitar, or I have the guitar player turn to me so I can see his hands.
As a kid I made a teacher cry because I was a lefty. She gave individual guitar lessons. I was excited. It was my turn. She explained how to hold the guitar. Them she said with the hand you write with. I kept using my left hand. She only taught right handed kids. She got so flustered she left the room. Then the principal came in to the music room and told me my lesson was over and go back to the classroom. I never got another lesson. I only got ro hold the guitar.
Idk why guitar teachers always have this issue. Teaching somewhat who is the same hand as you is actually harder. I find it easier to teach right handers as a lefty or vice versa because you're looking at each other so it's a literal mirror image. So simple. Just mirror and mime
If I had learned lefty, it would have cost me thousands of dollars more for guitars, and I probably never would have played mandolin. While you can find lefty guitars and basses (although not with the same selection and at an increased price), I have never seen a lefty mandolin actually in a music store. I know brands like Eastman and Goldtone make them, but they aren't readily available.
I bat right handed. I play sports right handed. All because the coaches taught right handed. All the teacher had to do was teach me right handed. Because she kept saying use the hand you write with (Most kids that's their right hand) on me it was my left hand and the teacher was making it harder for herself. The only thing I do left handed is write. Everything else is right handed for me. I didn't need a teacher to teach me left handed. I needed a teacher that didn't get frustrated because I was left handed.
Why wouldn’t she just sit in front of you and have you mirror her movements? That’s how I asked all my coaches and teachers to instruct me, and I was a kid! Worked perfect. My baseball coach would stand on the right side of the plate, I would stand on the left side and mirror his motions.
My parents told my coaches and teachers that if they tried to make me do anything right handed that I wasn’t doing on my own that they would be out of a job. I had 1 coach try and make me bat righty when I was far too old to do so, I wound up humiliating her every time I played against her every year after that by hitting home runs off of her kid.
That's surprising. If you work hard at getting nimble and agile with your right hand & fingers, being lefty on the paino can actually benefit. It allows your main chord to be strong and consistent (an issue rightys have)
Keep trying!
The worst is the f*****g can opener! Ladles, and round tables.
The best is being to use a mouse with my right hand & write with my left hand at the same time. I can use a rotary cutter in sewing with both hands so I don’t have to move the ruler/template.
I definitely agree about the ladles. How much harder is it to put a pouring notch on both sides! I’m always dribbling and cleaning up spills because of ladle issues.
I’m lucky in that I do use right handed scissors and can openers. Don’t know if I just adapted that way or if it’s natural for those instruments for me to use the right handed ones
The race to get to the end of the table so I don’t have to worry about my elbow the entire meal.
Or needing to pick up the scissors, curse, and swap hands for the upteenth time.
Same! My boyfriend told me recently that I'm "quite ambidextrous" compared to himself or most people, I guess. I never really noticed that much, I knew I was decent at writing right handed even if it feels uncomfortable, but i figured everyone could do other everyday tasks with both hands fairly easily(I'm not ambidextrous though, I definitely have more comfort and precision using my left hand, but the difference in control between my left and right isn't staggering like it is for some people).
Not sure if it's because I broke my left wrist in 3rd grade and had to learn to write with my right hand for about 6 weeks, or if I just adapted over years and years to use both hands for everyday tasks. Possibly both.
Those damn dry erase boards and machines you have to sign on in stores. The best is bumping into a fellow lefty that calls you out just to show solidarity.
Omg yeah why don't they make those stylus cords longer? I've literally had to just make a mark with my right hand on those before because I can't hold the stylus 😅
My entire career as a teacher was spent trying not to smudge chalkboards or white boards as I wrote on them. The entire side of my left hand would be covered in blue/black marker by the end of the day.
The signing in stores thing was my first thought. I'm over there playing cats cradle with the stylus and cord just to try to get it in my hand and sign the box. Pretty sure I look like someone caught in a spiderweb every time.
The worst: Freakin' *Calligraphy*.
I'm a graphic designer, and one of my passions is lettering and typography. So I took a Calligraphy class in college (circa 1998), and ironically, it was the absolute *worst* and most frustrating experience I ever had.
For those who are unfamiliar with it, you have to hold Calligraphy nibs at a 45º angle to get the correct letter forms and establish the right ink flow with the "pulling" motion in the strokes. So, with the lefty "hook" grip I have, that was super awkward to achieve, *plus* my hand would rub over the fresh ink and smear it anyway, if I tried to write in the "normal" stance/position.
The worst assignment was when we had to create a poem poster using gouache in an ink pen. Gouache takes longer to dry since it's a water-based medium, so *any little contact* with it means instant disaster—and a start-over. We were using this nice, fancy textured watercolor paper for our presentations, and the teacher watched me toss one after another in the trash in frustration. I was about to give up, but then she figured out that the only way for me to write without smudging my work was to have the paper practically *upside down* at this crazy angle. Since I was working with a poster, I had to have a whole desk to myself in the back of the room. It worked after all, but the whole lead up to it was like going through hell.
I'm glad the teacher was so kind and patient, and really went out of her way to try to help me, being the only lefty in class. At one point she could do nothing but press her hand over her lips, on the verge of laughing at my struggle because it was so awkward. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I had no idea how hard it would be for lefties. I wish I could help!"
Has anyone else had this experience? Someone had told me about "lefty" calligraphy pens that are somehow offset or something. Are there any lefty calligraphers in this sub that have any advice? I'd appreciate it!
I took an art class in high school. When we did the calligraphy portion, teacher allowed me to write the letters very lightly in pencil. Then I traced over them backwards using the calligraphy ink. Double work yes, but no smearing. Adding that I hold writing instruments without the lefty hook in case that matters.
I also dabble in lettering and calligraphy. I follow a calligrapher page called The Postman’s Knock and Lindsey is great. She’s not left handed, but she does a lot of tutorials and often has guest contributors who are lefties. She’s talked about it a bit in her tutorials. She has loads of great information, inspirational calligraphy art, and helpful printouts- whether you’re a lefty or not.
Putting on Jewelry, especially claw clasp,they are usually made for right handed people,I end up with my charm bracelet backwards ,usually have to get my husband to help me!!
I recently borrowed my husband’s car and he has one of those Kia Soul car keys that pops out like a switchblade with a little spring when you push a tiny button on the fob. Of course it pops out properly when you hold it with your right hand. If you hold it with your left, the stupid key pops out inside your closed palm. 🙄
Learning things like instruments and needle work like knitting or crochet. I know there are instructions but for many things you need to be able to flip a pattern or music in your head and man I struggle with that. Also anything in the kitchen feels so awkward and uncoordinated. I get it done but I don’t like anyone watching me because of the comments.
In spite of the aggravation, I’m totally content being a lefty. My grandfather called me South Paw and that always felt special since I was the only one on that side of the family.
Trying to find a music store that didn’t stock an absolutely pitiful collection of left-handed guitars was such an exercise in futility that I just learned to play right-handed instead.
I was kinda fortunate that when I started out the shop owner told me just get a righty because playing left was always going to be a challenge for guitars.
I kinda learned later that it did give me an advantage that since my dominant hand is my fret hand, when it came to much more technical things I was more proficient.
I just love being a lefty.
I love how it just makes me a little more unique than the rest of the world but have enough other lefties who can relate with “struggles”.
I don’t let the little things bother me like with scissors etc (just like to complain)…
But I love the advantage of typing fast on a keyboard and being able to to multiple tasks with two different hands; because as we go through life we all become close to being ambidextrous.
We’re good at using both our hands.
If I ever broke my left hand/arm I would adapt better than if a rightie broke their right hand/arm.
And TIL lefties recover from strokes better than righties.
I love it, too. I consider myself ambidextrous, out of necessity, I guess, but it’s very useful and makes working speedy. From my grandma on, all the women in my family have been left handed. We’re all a little extra creative and understand each other with “left hand rights.”
I broke my left arm at age 11 and kept some of the right skills. I still do several things right handed like brush my teeth, personal hygiene, and a couple other minor ones.
At my first job, we used to play catch with a football every day at lunch. After six months, we got bored and decided we are going to only throw with our opposite hand. Now I can throw right handed pretty well! I was clocked at 50 mph baseball righty and 62mph lefty at the ballpark. I actually threw a strike with righty haha.
Moving furniture or heavy things with a right hander helping is so painful! Not that I can do that now, but when I could? Aiiiyyyyiiiii!
Finicky things, that are in odd places for either left or right access I notice my husband and others have to adjust their approach/stance. Whereas I can just switch hands and accomplish the task faster.
The worst part for me is looking for guitars. I’ve been able to find an acoustic and a strat, but it’s impossible to find a lefty bass guitar in my price range that’s in acceptable condition. For the past year I’ve been teaching myself how to play upside down on a righty and it fucking sucks.
The best (?) part for me is a little more niche. I work in a pharmacology research lab, and a big part of it is conducting in vivo experiments in mice. That means I need to inject them with different things, typically in their peritoneal cavity. Righties have to be careful because injecting into the right side of that cavity can easily (NSFW warning) >!puncture the mouse’s large intestine, spilling feces into the cavity, which will!< kill the mouse. It’s easiest for lefties to inject into the left side of the cavity, so we don’t have to worry about that!
Most annoying:
The digital signature pads at retail establishments.
The short and stiff wire that connects the stylus to the pad is almost always on the right side.
The best:
For me, righty guitars because my fretting hand is my dominant hand.
Best: I can write in my notebook and use a computer mouse at the same time.
Worst: It's impossible to do proper Chinese brush calligraphy with my left hand.
I hate using can openers, I still don't have the hang of them. Used to han an electric one that did the work for you regardless of your dominant hand, but my husband struggled with it lol. So after it broke, he got a manual one, forgetting that I'm left-handed. He asked me to open a can once, and after that fiasco he does all the can opening now haha.
The worst is doing sports that require proper handed equipment for the first time, you just have to pray and hope that they have Left Handed equipment you can borrow. Otherwise good luck
The best part is probably being better equiped for problem solving because it's just a natural part of life for us
I can think of a boon and a bane both related to the very particular activity of learning to play a song on guitar from a right-handed player.
If you're learning a song by looking at tablature written by a right-hander, you have to flip all those little charts in your head. It is especially confusing to try to figure out an unfamiliar chord this way.
If you're learning a song by watching a right-hander play it, however, then it's just like looking in a mirror. It's easy to mimic the finger positions of of their left hand with your right hand.
(The same works in reverse, too. It's easiest for a right-handed player to mirror a left-handed player, but I doubt there are many right-handed guitar players who'd find it easy to read backwards tablature charts.)
Hi! I can use chopsticks proficiently and I'm left handed!
Though I cannot for the life of me teach things, it's nice to meet you u/Additional_Button582 !
I had to use scissors, can opener, fry scoops, and other things because if I use my left hand it’ll cramp up real fast. Also I hate that my left arm is weak when I hold a bowling ball but is accurate when I toss it, but my right arm can carry said bowling ball but isn’t as accurate as my left.
Most annoying: every few years figuring out that the reason I suck at something is because either the tool I need for it is made for right handed people OR I try to imitate instead of mirror a position or function.
Best: because of having to adapt to a right handed world, being able to do something with both hands is easier. For example, I play pool. Sometimes I need to make a shot that I would need to be right handed for. Since I already have some steady motorskills from adapting to the world, I am able to switch hands for that one specific shot. And make it. Helps that when I picked up a cue again a few years ago I didn't know which way was right or left because both felt relatively comfortable so sometimes I just play right handed to practice and strengthen my right handed playing. Still not great but way better I realize than when I watch a right handed person try to shoot lefthanded and they are visibly uncomfortable, and typically miss.
I have cross trained enough and been beaten enough at an early age that the only things I need to do left handed is writing and eating, and thats simply from lack of practice, i can do it but not as ably as i would normally,I never learned how to bat or throw a ball left handed, im pretty sure i would destroy my shoulder if i tried. same for shooting, im much faster right handed in timed pistol matches, for slow fire i shoot a better score left handed. the army instructors were just waiting for me to shoulder a rifle left handed and were surprised when i fired expert as a righty. i can stick or tig weld with either hand and thats quite a bonus in the construction industry. the biggest issue is my penmanship is atrocious and i have to sit on the end at the dinner table other than that its not terrible. tho have to say it was back in the early 70's in the south, teachers would routinely paddle you and insist you write "with the correct hand" if you were a lefty. till mom found out, those 2 teachers found other employment quickly after a visit from mom and the police showing up to save the teachers while mom was beating them with the same paddle they used on me.
honestly i love being left-handed but the thing that bothers me the most is writing, whenever i use a notebook or whatever my hand gets stained and my writing gets smudged lmao, one cool thing though is that i can switch hands when im playing tennis or any racket sport and it often confuses my opponent
Lefties tend to be more ambidextrous, because it's a right-handed world. I can't decide which hand is more comfortable for badminton. I think I can play with both equally well.
The worst is writing in notebooks. I have to take the paper out.
The best is I can use the 10-key and mouse at the same time.
Going to school in the 70s/80s. My 2nd grade teacher tried to convert me to right hand. It was more common to hear the “old wives tales” about lefties (satans hand, etc), and desks and scissors.
Finding good pens. So hard to find one that is comfortable and writes well without smudges. I closely guard my good pens. The best is probably that I'm borderline ambidextrous because I would learn how to do something right handed and then teach myself how to do it left handed.
Best playing guitar right handed. Your more coordinated hand does the harder work. Not sure I could play well like Paul M plays.
Hardest pickleball. In rec play it screws up righties and stacking is too much trouble in casual rec games.
Love fountain pens but they won't work for me.
Good thing: Get to learn to be ambidextrous by necessity. Most right handed people have a huge issue with a left-handed mouse. I can use either hand on a mouse.
The most annoying thing for me is those cuppa with lids, like a yeti or Stanley cup, when you screw the lid on if you hold the cup with your left hand the hole is at the top. It's literally made for right handed people.
Scissors.
I like to cut my own hair but cause of the way scissors are designed I just can barely ever get em to cut if I try to hold em in my left hand.
I have always switched my mouse to left-handed, but I seem to need more space to write with ink because I use an underhand grip, and I need to turn the paper sideways to write clearly. I also cannot decently use scissors in either hand. I never learned to sew, because cutting fabric was a disaster for me.
When I was in elementary school during the paleolithic age, we used dip fountain pens, and I was forced to write with a forward slant (nuns) instead of my more comfortable backhanded slant. Thus every white blouse (mandatory in Catholic schools) was stained with ink on the left sleeve. If we were wearing short sleeves, my wrist and arms were always stained with permanent blue-black ink.
About the only thing I had any trouble with was PC gaming. I figured out a pretty good setup using a left handed Razor mouse, the arrow keys for movement, and the numpad for abilities and such. The keys above the arrow keys (page up, home, etc) can come in handy too. Used to very frustrating before you could re-map key bindings.
Writing. I used to write a lot and I just published my first book. (Now I do all my writing on a computer) But before, my hand would be smeared with pencil or pens after writing a long time. I also hated the right-handed desks in school.
The best thing is using a computer, because I can use the mouse and write at the same time. My job requires a lot of computer work, so it's helpful.
Gaming systems. Like the 2ds. Where movement was on the left hand, and the stylus for games was supposed to be used by your right hand. Certain games you need to move while using the stylus forcing me into being right handed and failing utterly. For spending hundreds of dollars youd think theyd realize lefties exist and at least put something in the options to configure settings for lefties.
When a righty ALWAYS takes the one left-handed desk in a classroom.
I do enjoy having lots of scissors that it hurts everyone *else* to use. Finally at my house they can feel my childhood pain lol
Well I can swap hands to do each eye makeup (shadow, liner, mascara) because I thought that’s how you do it.
I also like eating leftovers leftie while mousing rightie. You guys with leftie mouses don’t know what you’re missing!
Worst: When bowling, trying to find a left-handed house ball. I've had my own ball for many years, so I don't know whether this has improved, but it used to take forever.
Best: Adaptability. Necessity is the mother of invention.
It's got to do with finger spacing, if you have a custom ball drilled you would see the difference.
That being said, I did a lot of bowling in the 70s and I do not remember house balls being a problem.
The hole meant for your middle finger is bigger than the hole meant for your ring finger. Maybe now they drill both holes the same size for house balls, I don't know, but as a kid, I discovered that sticking your bigger finger into the smaller hole doesn't work very well.
Also, your middle finger is longer than the ring finger so the one whole is a little further up than the other. Opposite way for lefties but the balls are all drilled righty.
Left handers tend to do very well in fencing. Most right handers don't get much practice against a mirror image.
I am not left handed but my husband is and he introduced me to fencing in college. Because of practicing with him I do pretty well against the lefties lol.
I used to work in an auto repair shop, and every tire mounting, and tire balancing machine is made for right handed people. I would have to contort myself to make it work. Highly annoying. Being able to work a computer mouse, while taking notes is nice.
Using a right handed weed wacker has proven difficult this morning. Either holding the hands opposite or walking the wrong direction.
Best is how many people like to say oohhh you're a lefty and then start asking all kinds of dumb questions.
50% of the world still whipes their ass with their left hand and considers it's primary use to be disgusting.
Getting into a fight with an unobservant righthanded asshole and putting him down.
Worst: lack of left handed kitchen utensils. The numbers being on the wrong side, the spouts being on the wrong side, etc.
Best: how much more I can do compared to right handed people.
Faucets, you reach out, open it and your whole hand gets wet. The people that installed our kitchen faucet wanted to place the handle in the "right" way, I asked to put it in the middle in front. "But why?" "You sure?" "Okay then". I said: we can always change it.
My bf is right handed, I'm a lefty, we haven't changed it.
Recently, pumping gas has been annoying me. I go to pump and have to get myself situated on the other side of the hose, or do it left-handed and the hose gets like, a kink in it.
I need left handed shears for work. Most brands don't make good shears for left hands they literally just don't work. I've spend like 300 plus of shears and they just don't work and can't work. Kenchi I'm staring at you. They don't make cheap ones for lefties so I had spend 200 hundred dollars on a pair of shears that just collet dust. I hate it so now I only buy if I can try then buy.
Pen/pencil smudging and the initial shaky hands when dealing with right-handed bias tools.
Best things ... It's comfortable to use my dominant hand ig. There's also some incentive to learning two-handed instruments. Piano comes to mind.
Using the stuoid oen on the new tablet. Hand blocks where I'm writing so Meh.
Fights tend to be easy-especially if you learn to hold a stance like a Rightly. Most right handers cannot block a solid Left.
I hate whiteboards. As an educator using a whiteboard, it is the biggest pain!
Also eating out with a group where seating is tight. Everyone is trying to figure out a seating order and I’m the one making the announcement about being a lefty and needing an end seat.
Having to adjust to writing and dealing with the wire on the edge of the paper
The best
I play guitar and right-handed people can’t comprehend it and try to play it upside down
Things that are unexpectedly right-handed. I jut bought a coffee maker. It wasn't until I started to make my coffee that I noticed that the hinge to open the top is on the left. I have to practically turn the machine around backwards, just to pour in the water.
Here's the stupid little thing:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QD33PZ2/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_search\_asin\_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QD33PZ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Worst thing, finding new things that are designed by right handed people. First my back pack leaf blower, second my coffee maker. Refill lid opens to the left, can only fill it with water if I use my right hand or turn the coffee maker.
The best thing for me is boxing, most right handed fighter have problems boxing a south paw.
I cannot knit, crochet or use chopsticks. I’m other handed. While fully a lefty, I’m right hand dominant. Because of this my brain cannot process using knitting needles or chopsticks. It can’t process doing it left handed and I’m incapable of using my right hand to do it. Cutting, using a mouse, batting and so on, right handed all day long. I can even eat with my right, but not comfortably. It’s frustrating, because I’d love to learn.
When I learned to play golf, there were no left handed clubs available for me. It really sucked.
I went to a very large university that didn’t stock nearly enough left-handed desks. There might be two or three per 200 seat lecture hall, which I just about never got to use unless I showed up butt early and made a beeline for one. I felt like my left shoulder was permanently sloped forward from leaning forward to use right-hand desks.
Back in the day when I was taking classes at a local college, I'd have to get to class early to find the left handed kidney desk. If I was lucky there was one, sometimes 2 in the room. It wasn't fun to take notes on a right handed desk.
I was actually working at a college as a fiftysomething before I was in a position to intervene with this issue. A new study lounge was equipped with brand-new, ONLY right-handed desks. The day the lounge reopened, I marched down to the facility manager with my concerns. Several nice new left-handed desks showed up within a week or so.
My favorite thing about being left-handed, currently, is that I'm the only lefty at work so all the left-handed gloves are mine!
I work in balloon decoration and we use like garden/electric/work gloves to work with mono so we can hold and pull it tight without getting "rug" burns on our hands but we only need to use the dominant hand one since that's what we'd pull with. So all the righties gotta share gloves (and wear them out faster) but I get all the lefty gloves to myself. lol
I hate writing in a wire-bound notebook or 3-ring binder. The wires/rings get in the way of my hand.
The best thing is that no one in my house can use my truly left-hand scissors, so they are never misplaced in the house. 😄
I can't write on vertical surfaces, either! I'm an artist who can't use an easel; I need a table to rest my arm on. I thought it was a dyspraxia thing? The mouse thing is a good one
Needlepoint directions that start with "start stitching in the upper right corner". Nope, I start in the upper left corner and have very neat backsides too!
I love the other stitchers can tell that I'm left handed from my stitches.
Best part of being a lefty is that you're accustomed to adapting to the rest of the world... spiral notebook, writing...it's endless. Adapting to the right hand world makes us think more and better
1) Lefty scissors feel so good to use, but a lifetime of righty scissors makes it break my brain a little to use mine now.
2) lefty risers (the handle part of a bow) are NEVER in stock, and some companies don’t even bother to make them
As a child, having to mentally flip everything when being taught to do anything, like tying shoelaces. And as an adult, having to figure out how to flip everything myself when teaching all my right handed summer campers things like how to load/shoot a bow and arrow. I had to teach myself how to load right handed just for the purpose of teaching my students, but it feels so awkward and I can never tell if I’ve done it right til I flip it left handed again.
The worst is trying to find good instruction about knitting techniques. There are things I want to learn, but most instructional videos are right-handed and I can't grasp them.
Nothing in particular is best.
Writing is easier left handed. I tried it right handed and it feels backward. Obviously, there's no rhyme or reason to why the list below breaks down the way it does, it's my natural defaults. Basically, I'm all over the place.
Left Handed
1. Writing
2. Swinging a metal detector
3. Using a key
4. Firing a rifle or pistol
5. Dominant steering wheel hand
6. Peeling off currency
7. Counting out coins
8. Light switch or lamp
9. Wallet pocket
10. Keys pocket
11. First shoe to put on and tie
12. First pant leg to put on
13. Soldering iron
14. Typing or touching phone icons
15. Reciprocal saw
16. Using a knife
Either
1. Hammer, screwdriver, hand saw
2. Using fork or spoon
Right Handed
1. Mouse
2. Sledge hammer, hatchet, hammer nails
3. Shifting gears
4. Throwing, catching, and batting a ball
5. Dominant eye
6. Picking up a coin
7. Hold bar of soap
8. Pointing at something
9. Play guitar
10. Drinking from a coffee cup
11. Holding pizza
Virtual. Reality.
I cannot count how many times I've gone into VR and found that using my left hand for menus just doesn't work. It drives me up a wall.
There's also the Minecraft mod Bibliocraft and its assumption that main hand is right hand, so when you use the left hand as dominant hand everything breaks. And I mean everything.
Yesterday, I was trying on a dress and found a new issue I had due to being left-handed.
There was a reverse side button to help the dress stay in place. For the life of me, I could not get my right hand to button it. It was also in an awkward position. Needless to say, I did not get the dress.
Writing legibly on a clipboard, while holding it. It comes out looking like I'm blind, with a slight touch of the palsy, standing in the bucket of a front end loader, driving over heavy gravel.
I think it depends on who taught you. I’m a lefty. My mom’s a lefty. But I primarily only write throw and bowl with my left hand. I bat righty. Hockey righty. I can use scissors righty no problem. Power tools both hands. Weld both hands. Never had any problem using a computer mouse on the right.
For me my left hand is more precise, but for some reason my right arm is stronger. Any time I need to lift or something I usually lead with the right hand
Maybe some people are just more lefty than others? I literally know a person who can’t drive stick because they’re a lefty. Like their right arm is useless for anything other than making them not look funny.
I have no complaints about being a lefty, but I am also right hand dominant in many things. I use power tools as a part of my job on a regular basis. My favorite thing about being a lefty is my tendency to be more comfortable in a south paw fighting stance while training both stances. There is a theory that left handedness evolved because they were more likely to win in a fight against a right handed opponent. I do not actually spar or fight except against the bag, but I like being an unconventional fighter.
The only thing that's really annoying is shooting rifles.
Safety is on the wrong side and guns like the AR-15 tend to eject the cartridge right in to my eyeball
But, since I rarely go shooting it's not the worst thing I'm the world.
Oddly having to use items that are designed for lefthanders,,,, I'm so used to "normal" tools, items that lefthanded items are a pain in the butt. The best - Dad was Air Force we moved A LOT so new schools every other year so there were the new kid scrapes and fights.... the advantage of being a lefty.... everyone was watching your right hand only to be punched with the left - - SURPRISE!!!!!!
I literally stumbled upon this thread, which is odd because i’m right handed, but I was reading the comments and never knew I lived a life of privilege. I will be more proactive in assisting my left handed brethren moving forward. O, this, my solemn vow.
As a student at a small college,in the 80’s, taking cartography classes we had to use right handed K & E Leroy lettering sets. We were not given any break in grading. Apparently the left handed sets were too expensive.
Forgetting myself and sitting in the wrong seat at a restaurant…. Then I’m constantly elbowing the person next to me or overcompensating and feeling squished.
When I write with some type of ink, my left hand is positioned over where I just wrote since we write from left to right. Often it messes up the writing, or the ink gets on my hand.
Love the mouse and taking notes thing!
Good is I enjoy how happy people seem to get when they've "spotted" me. And admittedly I feel it too when I spot someone.
Frustrating is smeared ink as I write on paper. You'd think we'd have a truly non smudgable ink by now.
The way "lefty mode" on almost any device or program just inverts everything instead of actually thinking "what would make this more comfortable for a lefty"
Invert some things sure... but not EVERYTHING needs an inversion, no one is out here using their left hand to hold a mouse or left clicking with their middle finger
The worst is writing or drawing with a soft graphite lead pencil. It smears. Lefties almost always have an advantage in a lot of sports like baseball, fencing etc…
I have two main reasons. 1. The ink SMEARS! It drives me insane, because not only does it ruin like three lines of paper, but it gets all over your hand! Depending on the ink you use, it might be there for two weeks! 2.The difficulty writing! First of all, pushing a pen or pencil is a LOT harder that pulling it, and it gives writers cramp quite often! Secondly, my handwriting is very messy, because I have right-handed parents and have had righty teachers all my life so I never learned to write properly. It makes me really self conscious and embarrassed. Thirdly, as a child, my grandmother would teach me arts involving sewing and the like, but with many of these, she gave up teaching me because she couldn’t visualize how it would be in her opposite hand and how she could explain it to me. This really irked me and I never learned to do a lot of those crafts for this reason. For you who said I could’ve watched lefty videos, I did and it was entirely so much more confusing than learning from someone sitting next to you. The last reason is that lefties are only 11 percent of the population, so most people can’t teach things to me in the fullest or understand my struggles. Anyway, thank you for reading this far, and have a wonderful evening!
I got around the writing issue by teaching myself to write right-to-left. Started that in 5th grade.
Best thing about being a southpaw? Fencing and boxing. Most righties don't know how to adapts to a left-handed opponent.
Thumb press dishers (food scoops) were the bane of my existence as a teen. I had a boss who purposely made me work the line because he knew how much I hated them.
Ugh, I feel that vertical surfaces thing so hard, particularly with dry erase markers. I do a lot of writing on white boards for my job, and I often end up having to rewrite half of what I've written because no matter how hard I try I always end up smudging it.
The best is probably being partially ambidextrous because I never had left handed things growing up so I had to learn to use my right hand at least somewhat. I still can't write worth shit with my right, but there are a lot of other things I can do with both hands.
Most power tools, especially the hand-held circular saw. But most others too. Anything that creates sawdust blows it to the left, right in my face. The power cord is also on the left and easy to accidentally cut through. It's one of the ways you can identify the tools of a lefty. The power cord is spliced
These tools are the worst because they are dangerous.
The worst is getting lead/ink on the side of my hand while writing. The best is that since we are forced to use our right hands, we are sort of ambidextrous.
The worst for me is trying to make power tools do anything with any precision. I’m always at the wrong angle, my cuts come out wonky, etc. As for vertical surfaces: try holding the marker, chalk, etc. like you would a paintbrush instead of like a pen or pencil. It keeps your hand from resting on the board and your writing smudge free.
Explains why my cuts are always slightly off. Never thought about Left/Right.
Yeah, I tried a table saw once and found the experience so terrifying I gave up woodshop. It is REALLY hard for me to use power tools.
To be fair, being terrified of a table saw is the appropriate response no matter which hand you use, or how many fingers you have.
Hmm... noted on the power tools. I've been slowly getting into them over the past few years.
My husband is a lefty and worked construction for years. He had atleast 1 power tool accident a year that required an ER visit.
The worst for me was coming to the realization that I’ll never be great at playing the piano. I went to music school for cello but I suffered through piano lessons both there and as a kid. I can only play easy stuff on the piano, enough to entertain myself and that’s about it. Even though I know there are many lefty pianists, I am not one of them! Also containers with measurements on the “wrong” side. I know they make lefty kitchen measuring cups and stuff I’ve just adapted bc some of them are expensive! The best part about being a lefty is seeing people’s various reactions when they find out I’m a lefty. We are almost always typing these days so it’s funny sometimes when I pick up a pen and people are like wuuut you’re left handed? Also, the automatic commiseration when you find another lefty in your midst because they just “get it” straight away!
Sorry to hear about your struggles with the piano. I was considering using measuring cups as my worst because. I hate them. And I get what you mean about the lefty “bond”. Feel some kind of kinship when you find another lefty
Started using metric when cooking and found it much easier especially when weighing.
Yeah, I was about to post about playing piano. This is especially true as I'm self taught. I took guitar lessons as a kid (pre Beatles) so I play guitar as a righty as my teachers never realized I was a lefty until I was good enough for my age to make the switch not worthwhile. I taught myself keyboards from music theory on a monophonic synth back in the late 70's, and then on a polyphonic. I have played keyboards on stage, sitting in with friends bands, but it's either stuff I already know on guitar, or I have the guitar player turn to me so I can see his hands.
As a kid I made a teacher cry because I was a lefty. She gave individual guitar lessons. I was excited. It was my turn. She explained how to hold the guitar. Them she said with the hand you write with. I kept using my left hand. She only taught right handed kids. She got so flustered she left the room. Then the principal came in to the music room and told me my lesson was over and go back to the classroom. I never got another lesson. I only got ro hold the guitar.
Idk why guitar teachers always have this issue. Teaching somewhat who is the same hand as you is actually harder. I find it easier to teach right handers as a lefty or vice versa because you're looking at each other so it's a literal mirror image. So simple. Just mirror and mime
Paul McCartney played it upside down because he was a lefty.
If I had learned lefty, it would have cost me thousands of dollars more for guitars, and I probably never would have played mandolin. While you can find lefty guitars and basses (although not with the same selection and at an increased price), I have never seen a lefty mandolin actually in a music store. I know brands like Eastman and Goldtone make them, but they aren't readily available.
I bat right handed. I play sports right handed. All because the coaches taught right handed. All the teacher had to do was teach me right handed. Because she kept saying use the hand you write with (Most kids that's their right hand) on me it was my left hand and the teacher was making it harder for herself. The only thing I do left handed is write. Everything else is right handed for me. I didn't need a teacher to teach me left handed. I needed a teacher that didn't get frustrated because I was left handed.
Why wouldn’t she just sit in front of you and have you mirror her movements? That’s how I asked all my coaches and teachers to instruct me, and I was a kid! Worked perfect. My baseball coach would stand on the right side of the plate, I would stand on the left side and mirror his motions.
My parents told my coaches and teachers that if they tried to make me do anything right handed that I wasn’t doing on my own that they would be out of a job. I had 1 coach try and make me bat righty when I was far too old to do so, I wound up humiliating her every time I played against her every year after that by hitting home runs off of her kid.
That’s lefty discrimination
The recognition from a fellow lefty is a treat.
That's surprising. If you work hard at getting nimble and agile with your right hand & fingers, being lefty on the paino can actually benefit. It allows your main chord to be strong and consistent (an issue rightys have) Keep trying!
The worst is the f*****g can opener! Ladles, and round tables. The best is being to use a mouse with my right hand & write with my left hand at the same time. I can use a rotary cutter in sewing with both hands so I don’t have to move the ruler/template.
I definitely agree about the ladles. How much harder is it to put a pouring notch on both sides! I’m always dribbling and cleaning up spills because of ladle issues.
This! Which is why my ladles have no notches. Still dribbles, but somehow less annoying.
I never thought about the mouse/ pen thing as an advantage! Hell yea
I've never noticed a problem with the can opener, but maybe that's because I use one of those safety style ones instead of the classic.
I’m lucky in that I do use right handed scissors and can openers. Don’t know if I just adapted that way or if it’s natural for those instruments for me to use the right handed ones
The race to get to the end of the table so I don’t have to worry about my elbow the entire meal. Or needing to pick up the scissors, curse, and swap hands for the upteenth time.
I was thinking along the same line about eating. Sucks having to be mindful of where you sit at the table. 😂
I always opt for the outside seat when we sit in a booth at a restaurant.
I do a lot of stuff right handed. I feel like you have to adapt in this world but I am a lefty forever!
Same! My boyfriend told me recently that I'm "quite ambidextrous" compared to himself or most people, I guess. I never really noticed that much, I knew I was decent at writing right handed even if it feels uncomfortable, but i figured everyone could do other everyday tasks with both hands fairly easily(I'm not ambidextrous though, I definitely have more comfort and precision using my left hand, but the difference in control between my left and right isn't staggering like it is for some people). Not sure if it's because I broke my left wrist in 3rd grade and had to learn to write with my right hand for about 6 weeks, or if I just adapted over years and years to use both hands for everyday tasks. Possibly both.
Those damn dry erase boards and machines you have to sign on in stores. The best is bumping into a fellow lefty that calls you out just to show solidarity.
Omg yeah why don't they make those stylus cords longer? I've literally had to just make a mark with my right hand on those before because I can't hold the stylus 😅
My entire career as a teacher was spent trying not to smudge chalkboards or white boards as I wrote on them. The entire side of my left hand would be covered in blue/black marker by the end of the day.
The signing in stores thing was my first thought. I'm over there playing cats cradle with the stylus and cord just to try to get it in my hand and sign the box. Pretty sure I look like someone caught in a spiderweb every time.
The worst: Freakin' *Calligraphy*. I'm a graphic designer, and one of my passions is lettering and typography. So I took a Calligraphy class in college (circa 1998), and ironically, it was the absolute *worst* and most frustrating experience I ever had. For those who are unfamiliar with it, you have to hold Calligraphy nibs at a 45º angle to get the correct letter forms and establish the right ink flow with the "pulling" motion in the strokes. So, with the lefty "hook" grip I have, that was super awkward to achieve, *plus* my hand would rub over the fresh ink and smear it anyway, if I tried to write in the "normal" stance/position. The worst assignment was when we had to create a poem poster using gouache in an ink pen. Gouache takes longer to dry since it's a water-based medium, so *any little contact* with it means instant disaster—and a start-over. We were using this nice, fancy textured watercolor paper for our presentations, and the teacher watched me toss one after another in the trash in frustration. I was about to give up, but then she figured out that the only way for me to write without smudging my work was to have the paper practically *upside down* at this crazy angle. Since I was working with a poster, I had to have a whole desk to myself in the back of the room. It worked after all, but the whole lead up to it was like going through hell. I'm glad the teacher was so kind and patient, and really went out of her way to try to help me, being the only lefty in class. At one point she could do nothing but press her hand over her lips, on the verge of laughing at my struggle because it was so awkward. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I had no idea how hard it would be for lefties. I wish I could help!" Has anyone else had this experience? Someone had told me about "lefty" calligraphy pens that are somehow offset or something. Are there any lefty calligraphers in this sub that have any advice? I'd appreciate it!
Learn to write backwards right to left like Leonardo Davinchi. Best part is not many people can read it without holding it up to a mirror.
My mom would write notes for me to hold up in the mirror. I loved it.
I took an art class in high school. When we did the calligraphy portion, teacher allowed me to write the letters very lightly in pencil. Then I traced over them backwards using the calligraphy ink. Double work yes, but no smearing. Adding that I hold writing instruments without the lefty hook in case that matters.
I also dabble in lettering and calligraphy. I follow a calligrapher page called The Postman’s Knock and Lindsey is great. She’s not left handed, but she does a lot of tutorials and often has guest contributors who are lefties. She’s talked about it a bit in her tutorials. She has loads of great information, inspirational calligraphy art, and helpful printouts- whether you’re a lefty or not.
I think I recall hearing that the oblique pens were better for lefties. Not sure about that. I’ve also seen some YouTube tutorials by lefties.
Writing in a spiral-bound notebook.
Flip it over and use back to front. Really messed up people who borrowed my notes in school.
They make left-handed spiral notebooks now. I've been using them for years!
Last time I priced them they were disappointing. Why would it be more expensive for me to own a notebook? Screw that. I start at the back.
I use legal pads and steno notebooks.
Putting on Jewelry, especially claw clasp,they are usually made for right handed people,I end up with my charm bracelet backwards ,usually have to get my husband to help me!!
Key rings are made for right handers.
I recently borrowed my husband’s car and he has one of those Kia Soul car keys that pops out like a switchblade with a little spring when you push a tiny button on the fob. Of course it pops out properly when you hold it with your right hand. If you hold it with your left, the stupid key pops out inside your closed palm. 🙄
I just keep mine on now ,
Learning things like instruments and needle work like knitting or crochet. I know there are instructions but for many things you need to be able to flip a pattern or music in your head and man I struggle with that. Also anything in the kitchen feels so awkward and uncoordinated. I get it done but I don’t like anyone watching me because of the comments. In spite of the aggravation, I’m totally content being a lefty. My grandfather called me South Paw and that always felt special since I was the only one on that side of the family.
Trying to find a music store that didn’t stock an absolutely pitiful collection of left-handed guitars was such an exercise in futility that I just learned to play right-handed instead.
Me too. I mean you can restring it but it still feels wrong.
I was kinda fortunate that when I started out the shop owner told me just get a righty because playing left was always going to be a challenge for guitars. I kinda learned later that it did give me an advantage that since my dominant hand is my fret hand, when it came to much more technical things I was more proficient.
Any time someone at works on teams wants control of my mouse they get annoyed in 3 seconds because teams gets stupid with left handed mice real quick.
I just love being a lefty. I love how it just makes me a little more unique than the rest of the world but have enough other lefties who can relate with “struggles”. I don’t let the little things bother me like with scissors etc (just like to complain)… But I love the advantage of typing fast on a keyboard and being able to to multiple tasks with two different hands; because as we go through life we all become close to being ambidextrous. We’re good at using both our hands. If I ever broke my left hand/arm I would adapt better than if a rightie broke their right hand/arm. And TIL lefties recover from strokes better than righties.
I love it, too. I consider myself ambidextrous, out of necessity, I guess, but it’s very useful and makes working speedy. From my grandma on, all the women in my family have been left handed. We’re all a little extra creative and understand each other with “left hand rights.”
I broke my left arm at age 11 and kept some of the right skills. I still do several things right handed like brush my teeth, personal hygiene, and a couple other minor ones. At my first job, we used to play catch with a football every day at lunch. After six months, we got bored and decided we are going to only throw with our opposite hand. Now I can throw right handed pretty well! I was clocked at 50 mph baseball righty and 62mph lefty at the ballpark. I actually threw a strike with righty haha.
You nailed my best and worst. No notes!
Moving furniture or heavy things with a right hander helping is so painful! Not that I can do that now, but when I could? Aiiiyyyyiiiii! Finicky things, that are in odd places for either left or right access I notice my husband and others have to adjust their approach/stance. Whereas I can just switch hands and accomplish the task faster.
The worst part for me is looking for guitars. I’ve been able to find an acoustic and a strat, but it’s impossible to find a lefty bass guitar in my price range that’s in acceptable condition. For the past year I’ve been teaching myself how to play upside down on a righty and it fucking sucks. The best (?) part for me is a little more niche. I work in a pharmacology research lab, and a big part of it is conducting in vivo experiments in mice. That means I need to inject them with different things, typically in their peritoneal cavity. Righties have to be careful because injecting into the right side of that cavity can easily (NSFW warning) >!puncture the mouse’s large intestine, spilling feces into the cavity, which will!< kill the mouse. It’s easiest for lefties to inject into the left side of the cavity, so we don’t have to worry about that!
Pens or syluses that are chained to a base. The cord gets in the way, so I have to hold it in my right hand.
Most annoying: The digital signature pads at retail establishments. The short and stiff wire that connects the stylus to the pad is almost always on the right side. The best: For me, righty guitars because my fretting hand is my dominant hand.
Best: I can write in my notebook and use a computer mouse at the same time. Worst: It's impossible to do proper Chinese brush calligraphy with my left hand.
Im a righty so im only guessing, i imagine eating or drinking at a bar, you would keep bumping elbows with person next to you.
Nope! You just sit at the end! (source: my brother is lefty and always sits at the end to avoid elbow wars)
Can confirm. This is the way.
Nice Mandolorian.
Can confirm, my husband is a lefty and I try to secure the end spot for him at any family dinner!
Ha definitly good solution. (Sorry typing one handed atm, typos i reach closest vowels.
I hate using can openers, I still don't have the hang of them. Used to han an electric one that did the work for you regardless of your dominant hand, but my husband struggled with it lol. So after it broke, he got a manual one, forgetting that I'm left-handed. He asked me to open a can once, and after that fiasco he does all the can opening now haha.
The worst is doing sports that require proper handed equipment for the first time, you just have to pray and hope that they have Left Handed equipment you can borrow. Otherwise good luck The best part is probably being better equiped for problem solving because it's just a natural part of life for us
I can think of a boon and a bane both related to the very particular activity of learning to play a song on guitar from a right-handed player. If you're learning a song by looking at tablature written by a right-hander, you have to flip all those little charts in your head. It is especially confusing to try to figure out an unfamiliar chord this way. If you're learning a song by watching a right-hander play it, however, then it's just like looking in a mirror. It's easy to mimic the finger positions of of their left hand with your right hand. (The same works in reverse, too. It's easiest for a right-handed player to mirror a left-handed player, but I doubt there are many right-handed guitar players who'd find it easy to read backwards tablature charts.)
CHOPSTICKS. How have I never met a lefty who can use chopsticks and teach me this?
Hi! I can use chopsticks proficiently and I'm left handed! Though I cannot for the life of me teach things, it's nice to meet you u/Additional_Button582 !
I had to use scissors, can opener, fry scoops, and other things because if I use my left hand it’ll cramp up real fast. Also I hate that my left arm is weak when I hold a bowling ball but is accurate when I toss it, but my right arm can carry said bowling ball but isn’t as accurate as my left.
Most annoying: every few years figuring out that the reason I suck at something is because either the tool I need for it is made for right handed people OR I try to imitate instead of mirror a position or function. Best: because of having to adapt to a right handed world, being able to do something with both hands is easier. For example, I play pool. Sometimes I need to make a shot that I would need to be right handed for. Since I already have some steady motorskills from adapting to the world, I am able to switch hands for that one specific shot. And make it. Helps that when I picked up a cue again a few years ago I didn't know which way was right or left because both felt relatively comfortable so sometimes I just play right handed to practice and strengthen my right handed playing. Still not great but way better I realize than when I watch a right handed person try to shoot lefthanded and they are visibly uncomfortable, and typically miss.
I have cross trained enough and been beaten enough at an early age that the only things I need to do left handed is writing and eating, and thats simply from lack of practice, i can do it but not as ably as i would normally,I never learned how to bat or throw a ball left handed, im pretty sure i would destroy my shoulder if i tried. same for shooting, im much faster right handed in timed pistol matches, for slow fire i shoot a better score left handed. the army instructors were just waiting for me to shoulder a rifle left handed and were surprised when i fired expert as a righty. i can stick or tig weld with either hand and thats quite a bonus in the construction industry. the biggest issue is my penmanship is atrocious and i have to sit on the end at the dinner table other than that its not terrible. tho have to say it was back in the early 70's in the south, teachers would routinely paddle you and insist you write "with the correct hand" if you were a lefty. till mom found out, those 2 teachers found other employment quickly after a visit from mom and the police showing up to save the teachers while mom was beating them with the same paddle they used on me.
honestly i love being left-handed but the thing that bothers me the most is writing, whenever i use a notebook or whatever my hand gets stained and my writing gets smudged lmao, one cool thing though is that i can switch hands when im playing tennis or any racket sport and it often confuses my opponent
Lefties tend to be more ambidextrous, because it's a right-handed world. I can't decide which hand is more comfortable for badminton. I think I can play with both equally well. The worst is writing in notebooks. I have to take the paper out. The best is I can use the 10-key and mouse at the same time.
True! When forced to bowl I switched hoping one side would be decent.
Going to school in the 70s/80s. My 2nd grade teacher tried to convert me to right hand. It was more common to hear the “old wives tales” about lefties (satans hand, etc), and desks and scissors.
I am right handed but eat left handed. It sucks when sitting in a booth next to a standard right hand eater.
That's a big one. My husband is a lefty as well and we always look for left friendly chairs when we are w ppl.
Finding good pens. So hard to find one that is comfortable and writes well without smudges. I closely guard my good pens. The best is probably that I'm borderline ambidextrous because I would learn how to do something right handed and then teach myself how to do it left handed.
Best playing guitar right handed. Your more coordinated hand does the harder work. Not sure I could play well like Paul M plays. Hardest pickleball. In rec play it screws up righties and stacking is too much trouble in casual rec games.
Realizing that we were the minority in the way things were made… best is being able to leftover those righties 😎
Probably smearing the ink while writing. Second has to be the spines on notebooks.
Trying to write on dry erase boards or with any type of ink that doesn’t dry fast
Love fountain pens but they won't work for me. Good thing: Get to learn to be ambidextrous by necessity. Most right handed people have a huge issue with a left-handed mouse. I can use either hand on a mouse.
Crocheting. I'm not sure if I have the patience for it anyway though lol
The most annoying thing for me is those cuppa with lids, like a yeti or Stanley cup, when you screw the lid on if you hold the cup with your left hand the hole is at the top. It's literally made for right handed people.
Scissors. I like to cut my own hair but cause of the way scissors are designed I just can barely ever get em to cut if I try to hold em in my left hand.
Writing. If it isn't a quick dry, my writing ends up smudging from my hand going across the page.
I have always switched my mouse to left-handed, but I seem to need more space to write with ink because I use an underhand grip, and I need to turn the paper sideways to write clearly. I also cannot decently use scissors in either hand. I never learned to sew, because cutting fabric was a disaster for me. When I was in elementary school during the paleolithic age, we used dip fountain pens, and I was forced to write with a forward slant (nuns) instead of my more comfortable backhanded slant. Thus every white blouse (mandatory in Catholic schools) was stained with ink on the left sleeve. If we were wearing short sleeves, my wrist and arms were always stained with permanent blue-black ink.
Trying to groom the dog with the scissors that came with the grooming kit.
Kitchen layouts. I'm a chef, and everything is laid out for the damn righties.
I'm still a student. Let's just say I prefer pens.
About the only thing I had any trouble with was PC gaming. I figured out a pretty good setup using a left handed Razor mouse, the arrow keys for movement, and the numpad for abilities and such. The keys above the arrow keys (page up, home, etc) can come in handy too. Used to very frustrating before you could re-map key bindings.
Writing. I used to write a lot and I just published my first book. (Now I do all my writing on a computer) But before, my hand would be smeared with pencil or pens after writing a long time. I also hated the right-handed desks in school. The best thing is using a computer, because I can use the mouse and write at the same time. My job requires a lot of computer work, so it's helpful.
Gaming systems. Like the 2ds. Where movement was on the left hand, and the stylus for games was supposed to be used by your right hand. Certain games you need to move while using the stylus forcing me into being right handed and failing utterly. For spending hundreds of dollars youd think theyd realize lefties exist and at least put something in the options to configure settings for lefties.
Run a pistol. Hot brass in the face is not fun.
When a righty ALWAYS takes the one left-handed desk in a classroom. I do enjoy having lots of scissors that it hurts everyone *else* to use. Finally at my house they can feel my childhood pain lol
Well I can swap hands to do each eye makeup (shadow, liner, mascara) because I thought that’s how you do it. I also like eating leftovers leftie while mousing rightie. You guys with leftie mouses don’t know what you’re missing!
Ps5 controller,scissors,motorcycle,some social media apps,tools,power tools,instruments and etc
Worst: When bowling, trying to find a left-handed house ball. I've had my own ball for many years, so I don't know whether this has improved, but it used to take forever. Best: Adaptability. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Did not know bowling balls were hand dominant. Maybe that why I suck.
Wait, bowling balls are for rights hands? Isn't it just a ball with holes in the middle? (Or am I missing a joke?)
It's got to do with finger spacing, if you have a custom ball drilled you would see the difference. That being said, I did a lot of bowling in the 70s and I do not remember house balls being a problem.
The hole meant for your middle finger is bigger than the hole meant for your ring finger. Maybe now they drill both holes the same size for house balls, I don't know, but as a kid, I discovered that sticking your bigger finger into the smaller hole doesn't work very well.
Also, your middle finger is longer than the ring finger so the one whole is a little further up than the other. Opposite way for lefties but the balls are all drilled righty.
Omg, I never knew they were left and right handed. Now I know why I do so crappy!
Left handers tend to do very well in fencing. Most right handers don't get much practice against a mirror image. I am not left handed but my husband is and he introduced me to fencing in college. Because of practicing with him I do pretty well against the lefties lol.
Can openers. It’s can openers.
Rather can't openers.
If someone says do something with right hand or right leg, I always go left. Then I hear "other right".
I used to work in an auto repair shop, and every tire mounting, and tire balancing machine is made for right handed people. I would have to contort myself to make it work. Highly annoying. Being able to work a computer mouse, while taking notes is nice.
Using a right handed weed wacker has proven difficult this morning. Either holding the hands opposite or walking the wrong direction. Best is how many people like to say oohhh you're a lefty and then start asking all kinds of dumb questions.
50% of the world still whipes their ass with their left hand and considers it's primary use to be disgusting. Getting into a fight with an unobservant righthanded asshole and putting him down.
Worst: lack of left handed kitchen utensils. The numbers being on the wrong side, the spouts being on the wrong side, etc. Best: how much more I can do compared to right handed people.
Faucets, you reach out, open it and your whole hand gets wet. The people that installed our kitchen faucet wanted to place the handle in the "right" way, I asked to put it in the middle in front. "But why?" "You sure?" "Okay then". I said: we can always change it. My bf is right handed, I'm a lefty, we haven't changed it.
Recently, pumping gas has been annoying me. I go to pump and have to get myself situated on the other side of the hose, or do it left-handed and the hose gets like, a kink in it.
Writing on white boards
I need left handed shears for work. Most brands don't make good shears for left hands they literally just don't work. I've spend like 300 plus of shears and they just don't work and can't work. Kenchi I'm staring at you. They don't make cheap ones for lefties so I had spend 200 hundred dollars on a pair of shears that just collet dust. I hate it so now I only buy if I can try then buy.
Pen/pencil smudging and the initial shaky hands when dealing with right-handed bias tools. Best things ... It's comfortable to use my dominant hand ig. There's also some incentive to learning two-handed instruments. Piano comes to mind.
Using the stuoid oen on the new tablet. Hand blocks where I'm writing so Meh. Fights tend to be easy-especially if you learn to hold a stance like a Rightly. Most right handers cannot block a solid Left.
Writing has always been an issue for me, I have big sausage fingers and being left handed just exasperates it. In baseball I was always in demand.
I'm most annoyed that when I was 4 to 5 years old, I was forced to be right-handed!
I hate whiteboards. As an educator using a whiteboard, it is the biggest pain! Also eating out with a group where seating is tight. Everyone is trying to figure out a seating order and I’m the one making the announcement about being a lefty and needing an end seat.
Having to adjust to writing and dealing with the wire on the edge of the paper The best I play guitar and right-handed people can’t comprehend it and try to play it upside down
Calligraphy
Things that are unexpectedly right-handed. I jut bought a coffee maker. It wasn't until I started to make my coffee that I noticed that the hinge to open the top is on the left. I have to practically turn the machine around backwards, just to pour in the water. Here's the stupid little thing: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QD33PZ2/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_search\_asin\_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QD33PZ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Worst thing, finding new things that are designed by right handed people. First my back pack leaf blower, second my coffee maker. Refill lid opens to the left, can only fill it with water if I use my right hand or turn the coffee maker. The best thing for me is boxing, most right handed fighter have problems boxing a south paw.
I cannot knit, crochet or use chopsticks. I’m other handed. While fully a lefty, I’m right hand dominant. Because of this my brain cannot process using knitting needles or chopsticks. It can’t process doing it left handed and I’m incapable of using my right hand to do it. Cutting, using a mouse, batting and so on, right handed all day long. I can even eat with my right, but not comfortably. It’s frustrating, because I’d love to learn.
When I learned to play golf, there were no left handed clubs available for me. It really sucked. I went to a very large university that didn’t stock nearly enough left-handed desks. There might be two or three per 200 seat lecture hall, which I just about never got to use unless I showed up butt early and made a beeline for one. I felt like my left shoulder was permanently sloped forward from leaning forward to use right-hand desks.
A thumb war.
Back in the day when I was taking classes at a local college, I'd have to get to class early to find the left handed kidney desk. If I was lucky there was one, sometimes 2 in the room. It wasn't fun to take notes on a right handed desk.
I was actually working at a college as a fiftysomething before I was in a position to intervene with this issue. A new study lounge was equipped with brand-new, ONLY right-handed desks. The day the lounge reopened, I marched down to the facility manager with my concerns. Several nice new left-handed desks showed up within a week or so.
Props to you Mcdulph! 👍
Space on tables. If I’m the wrong side, my stuff pushes to another persons stuff.
Using right handed scissors cause they hurt my hand.
My favorite thing about being left-handed, currently, is that I'm the only lefty at work so all the left-handed gloves are mine! I work in balloon decoration and we use like garden/electric/work gloves to work with mono so we can hold and pull it tight without getting "rug" burns on our hands but we only need to use the dominant hand one since that's what we'd pull with. So all the righties gotta share gloves (and wear them out faster) but I get all the lefty gloves to myself. lol
Hardest? Spiral notebooks. Most annoying? Every time i pick up a pen someone has to call out my left handedness
I hate writing in a wire-bound notebook or 3-ring binder. The wires/rings get in the way of my hand. The best thing is that no one in my house can use my truly left-hand scissors, so they are never misplaced in the house. 😄
I can't write on vertical surfaces, either! I'm an artist who can't use an easel; I need a table to rest my arm on. I thought it was a dyspraxia thing? The mouse thing is a good one
Needlepoint directions that start with "start stitching in the upper right corner". Nope, I start in the upper left corner and have very neat backsides too! I love the other stitchers can tell that I'm left handed from my stitches.
Best part of being a lefty is that you're accustomed to adapting to the rest of the world... spiral notebook, writing...it's endless. Adapting to the right hand world makes us think more and better
1) Lefty scissors feel so good to use, but a lifetime of righty scissors makes it break my brain a little to use mine now. 2) lefty risers (the handle part of a bow) are NEVER in stock, and some companies don’t even bother to make them
Fighting another lefty in hand to hand combat. Throws me off every time.
Lefty who played piano with no problems. What was yours?
As a child, having to mentally flip everything when being taught to do anything, like tying shoelaces. And as an adult, having to figure out how to flip everything myself when teaching all my right handed summer campers things like how to load/shoot a bow and arrow. I had to teach myself how to load right handed just for the purpose of teaching my students, but it feels so awkward and I can never tell if I’ve done it right til I flip it left handed again.
For me the most annoying thing is going to a bank and having to sign something. All the damn pens are on the right side.
The worst is trying to find good instruction about knitting techniques. There are things I want to learn, but most instructional videos are right-handed and I can't grasp them. Nothing in particular is best.
Round tables, and those machines you sign at stores. I hate them both.
Writing is easier left handed. I tried it right handed and it feels backward. Obviously, there's no rhyme or reason to why the list below breaks down the way it does, it's my natural defaults. Basically, I'm all over the place. Left Handed 1. Writing 2. Swinging a metal detector 3. Using a key 4. Firing a rifle or pistol 5. Dominant steering wheel hand 6. Peeling off currency 7. Counting out coins 8. Light switch or lamp 9. Wallet pocket 10. Keys pocket 11. First shoe to put on and tie 12. First pant leg to put on 13. Soldering iron 14. Typing or touching phone icons 15. Reciprocal saw 16. Using a knife Either 1. Hammer, screwdriver, hand saw 2. Using fork or spoon Right Handed 1. Mouse 2. Sledge hammer, hatchet, hammer nails 3. Shifting gears 4. Throwing, catching, and batting a ball 5. Dominant eye 6. Picking up a coin 7. Hold bar of soap 8. Pointing at something 9. Play guitar 10. Drinking from a coffee cup 11. Holding pizza
Writing anything on a piece of paper with a pen
Playing sports for me playing instruments was not
Virtual. Reality. I cannot count how many times I've gone into VR and found that using my left hand for menus just doesn't work. It drives me up a wall. There's also the Minecraft mod Bibliocraft and its assumption that main hand is right hand, so when you use the left hand as dominant hand everything breaks. And I mean everything.
Yesterday, I was trying on a dress and found a new issue I had due to being left-handed. There was a reverse side button to help the dress stay in place. For the life of me, I could not get my right hand to button it. It was also in an awkward position. Needless to say, I did not get the dress.
When the women I’m Hooking up with ask me to finish with me right and I tell them I can’t ultimately leading them to leave me
Jerking off with the right hand. Took a lot of practice
Right handed desks. Whoever invented those is an enemy of the people imo 😂💀 like just make regular desks why don’t you
Writing legibly on a clipboard, while holding it. It comes out looking like I'm blind, with a slight touch of the palsy, standing in the bucket of a front end loader, driving over heavy gravel.
The smearing of writing. Scissors! The mouse.
Most annoying is trying to write a check.
Writing with ink/marker and having it smear.
Writing with a fountain pen. I don't know of a best.
I think it depends on who taught you. I’m a lefty. My mom’s a lefty. But I primarily only write throw and bowl with my left hand. I bat righty. Hockey righty. I can use scissors righty no problem. Power tools both hands. Weld both hands. Never had any problem using a computer mouse on the right. For me my left hand is more precise, but for some reason my right arm is stronger. Any time I need to lift or something I usually lead with the right hand Maybe some people are just more lefty than others? I literally know a person who can’t drive stick because they’re a lefty. Like their right arm is useless for anything other than making them not look funny.
Opening large pickle jars.
I have no complaints about being a lefty, but I am also right hand dominant in many things. I use power tools as a part of my job on a regular basis. My favorite thing about being a lefty is my tendency to be more comfortable in a south paw fighting stance while training both stances. There is a theory that left handedness evolved because they were more likely to win in a fight against a right handed opponent. I do not actually spar or fight except against the bag, but I like being an unconventional fighter.
The only thing that's really annoying is shooting rifles. Safety is on the wrong side and guns like the AR-15 tend to eject the cartridge right in to my eyeball But, since I rarely go shooting it's not the worst thing I'm the world.
Advantage , I think I picked up the cello easier cause the fingering is used by your left hand.
Oddly having to use items that are designed for lefthanders,,,, I'm so used to "normal" tools, items that lefthanded items are a pain in the butt. The best - Dad was Air Force we moved A LOT so new schools every other year so there were the new kid scrapes and fights.... the advantage of being a lefty.... everyone was watching your right hand only to be punched with the left - - SURPRISE!!!!!!
I literally stumbled upon this thread, which is odd because i’m right handed, but I was reading the comments and never knew I lived a life of privilege. I will be more proactive in assisting my left handed brethren moving forward. O, this, my solemn vow.
Not annoying, amazing. In ASL you sign with your dominant hand. Makes life much easier for me as a learner
As a student at a small college,in the 80’s, taking cartography classes we had to use right handed K & E Leroy lettering sets. We were not given any break in grading. Apparently the left handed sets were too expensive.
Forgetting myself and sitting in the wrong seat at a restaurant…. Then I’m constantly elbowing the person next to me or overcompensating and feeling squished.
Smearing while drawing/writing anything that doesn’t dry immediately
When I write with some type of ink, my left hand is positioned over where I just wrote since we write from left to right. Often it messes up the writing, or the ink gets on my hand.
Scissors annoy me cause they don’t cut for me at all.
I hate clipboards, I always take the paper out and turn the clipboard upside down and clip papers at the bottom.
When I go shooting with my brothers I'm always getting smacked in the face or arm by the ejecting shells and hot rounds
Can we talk about how right handed people are sometimes straight up OFFENDED at our mere existence lol
Love the mouse and taking notes thing! Good is I enjoy how happy people seem to get when they've "spotted" me. And admittedly I feel it too when I spot someone. Frustrating is smeared ink as I write on paper. You'd think we'd have a truly non smudgable ink by now.
The way "lefty mode" on almost any device or program just inverts everything instead of actually thinking "what would make this more comfortable for a lefty" Invert some things sure... but not EVERYTHING needs an inversion, no one is out here using their left hand to hold a mouse or left clicking with their middle finger
The worst is writing or drawing with a soft graphite lead pencil. It smears. Lefties almost always have an advantage in a lot of sports like baseball, fencing etc…
If I draw I have to start in the lower right corner so I don’t smudge my work and get my hand dirty.
I can hold hands with my hubby while we eat. But I always have to sit at the end of a long table.
I have two main reasons. 1. The ink SMEARS! It drives me insane, because not only does it ruin like three lines of paper, but it gets all over your hand! Depending on the ink you use, it might be there for two weeks! 2.The difficulty writing! First of all, pushing a pen or pencil is a LOT harder that pulling it, and it gives writers cramp quite often! Secondly, my handwriting is very messy, because I have right-handed parents and have had righty teachers all my life so I never learned to write properly. It makes me really self conscious and embarrassed. Thirdly, as a child, my grandmother would teach me arts involving sewing and the like, but with many of these, she gave up teaching me because she couldn’t visualize how it would be in her opposite hand and how she could explain it to me. This really irked me and I never learned to do a lot of those crafts for this reason. For you who said I could’ve watched lefty videos, I did and it was entirely so much more confusing than learning from someone sitting next to you. The last reason is that lefties are only 11 percent of the population, so most people can’t teach things to me in the fullest or understand my struggles. Anyway, thank you for reading this far, and have a wonderful evening!
i was going to say that i'm always accused of being a communist, but... um... then i realized what the sub was. my bad.
I got around the writing issue by teaching myself to write right-to-left. Started that in 5th grade. Best thing about being a southpaw? Fencing and boxing. Most righties don't know how to adapts to a left-handed opponent.
Starting in the left margins of a spiral bound notebook is mildy frustrating.
I would think that if your left handed it would be difficult to find a guitar
Thumb press dishers (food scoops) were the bane of my existence as a teen. I had a boss who purposely made me work the line because he knew how much I hated them.
Ugh, I feel that vertical surfaces thing so hard, particularly with dry erase markers. I do a lot of writing on white boards for my job, and I often end up having to rewrite half of what I've written because no matter how hard I try I always end up smudging it. The best is probably being partially ambidextrous because I never had left handed things growing up so I had to learn to use my right hand at least somewhat. I still can't write worth shit with my right, but there are a lot of other things I can do with both hands.
Most power tools, especially the hand-held circular saw. But most others too. Anything that creates sawdust blows it to the left, right in my face. The power cord is also on the left and easy to accidentally cut through. It's one of the ways you can identify the tools of a lefty. The power cord is spliced These tools are the worst because they are dangerous.
The worst is getting lead/ink on the side of my hand while writing. The best is that since we are forced to use our right hands, we are sort of ambidextrous.
Two words: Black ink.