8 Real-Life Struggles Left-Handed People Face Every Day

Let’s face it. In many ways, the world was designed for right-handed people. And there’s a good reason for that. At 12% of the global population, lefties make up a small portion of the world. And that makes it pretty tough – so tough, in fact, that left-handed people die more often and at a younger age from accidents than right-handed or ambidextrous folks.

Here are 10 other ways being a left-handed person is the pits.

1. Spiral notebooks suck.

Think I’m being harsh? Left handed people have good reason to curse spiral notebooks. The metal spiral digs into their hand and leaves a nasty print. Many lefties choose to just flip the notebook over but that doesn’t really help, because then the margin is on the wrong side, as are the holes.

2. Those stupid desks.

Someone, somewhere, came up with the bright idea to attach tabletops to chairs. It’s really a brilliant idea… Unless you’re a leftie and can’t find a desk that doesn’t have the armrest on the right-hand side.

In high school, you ask the janitor to find a leftie chair for you. But once you get to university and your class has 500 people in it, good luck.

3. Smudge

If you know anything about the perils of being left-handed, you know exactly what I’m talking about here.

A lot of people like to write with fancy gel pens. But not lefties. Because when you’re a leftie, if you write it, you wear it.

4. Can openers become torture devices.

Try to use a screwdriver with your non-dominant hand. Pretty frustrating, right? It’s nothing compared to the frustration that lefties feel when they have to use something like a can opener. It’s amazing that utensil manufacturers are allowed to discriminate so boldly.

5. Typing is like learning to play the Ondes Martenot.

The problem with typing begins when you’re using an app like Excel and you need to use that number pad which is located… on your right.

Your non-dominant hand is nowhere near as proficient at typing as your dominant one, so that means you’ll have to one-finger type if you want to make sure the IRS doesn’t come after you for all those extra zeroes.

6. Cup holders aren’t in the right place.

Pun intended. (I had to sneak one in there.)

Seriously though, can you just imagine how many car accidents have been caused because lefties had to take their hands off the wheel to reach for their cup? Or even more disastrous, how many cups of coffee have gone cold because they were in too awkward a spot to be reached?

7. Up for some baseball?

Finding a left-handed glove is a mission on its own, never mind becoming a good baseball player. Cue hours of driving around to every Walmart in five states looking for a lefty glove.

8. “Uh, do you have a lefty model?”

Shopping for a new guitar is fun. Not when you’re a lefty, though. Not only do left-handed models tend to cost more than the same model right-handed guitar, they’re also hardly ever in stock.

The Bright Side

So yeah, being left-handed comes with a whole host of challenges. But did you know it also comes with some advantages?

They include the following.

1. Left-handed people are better at 3D perception and thinking.

Studies have found that lefties tend to be better at 3D perception, which makes them very suited towards the design and architecture industries. In fact, four out of five of the original designers of the Macintosh computer were left-handed.

2. Lefties adjust to seeing underwater faster.

Although scientists don’t know exactly why this is, some speculate it’s due to a different part of the brain being dominant in left-handed individuals.

3. Left-handed stroke victims will generally recover faster than right-handed ones.

Scientists believe this to be a result of lefties having to strengthen both sides of their brain as they navigate a world designed for right handed people.

4. Lefties are better drivers.

Despite most cars being designed with righties in mind, a poll of driving schools found that 57% of lefties pass their driving test the first time compared to 47% of righties.

5. Less time spent waiting in line.

Studies show that when faced with a decision regarding which line to join, most people will veer in the direction of their dominant hand. That means lines on the right are usually longer than ones on the left. As a result, people who are drawn towards the left side will spend less time waiting there.

[h/t: www.diply.com]

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