It’s hard being a left-hander in a right-hander’s world. 

  I say this because the roughly 10% of us that are left handed have to operate in a world specially made for right handed people.

  That is not necessarily bad, but it does present a few inconveniences at times. 

  Here are just a few issues that I’ve experienced that you right-handers may have never thought of as being problems. 

  As for my fellow left-handers, you’re just along for the ride. You’ll relate to much, if not all, of this. 

  During my school years, I [literally] painstakingly wrote in spiral bound notebooks and binders, used right handed scissors to the point that I now can’t cut anything with my left hand, and have used school desks with the armrests located on the right hand side.

  I couldn’t (and still can’t) write on a whiteboard or chalkboard without wiping what I just wrote off the board. I also find that my left hand is covered in ink or graphite after I write with any implement.

  I have to admit, I was fairly jealous at the ease with which my right handed peers operated in their classroom environments.

  I’ve also mastered the function of a computer mouse using my right hand, and deferred to all of my camera controls being located on the right side of the camera.

  When learning to bat in softball and then to throw grenades in the Army, I was told to do it all right handed. Not because my instructors did not have the ability to teach me left handed, but because they wanted me to do it the ‘right’ way. (FYI: Using my right hand for tasks requiring physical exertion did not work out well. Especially when throwing grenades).

  When I am training with the military and shooting my M4, the ejection port for the used shells is on the right side. As I am shooting left handed, hot rounds are ejected onto my right arm that is supporting the front of the weapon. Ouch.

  Coffee cups are also a shame. It’s so sad to find a cute coffee cup and pick it up by the handle with my left hand and realize that the pretty design is on the wrong side.

  Swiping a card in a store is interesting too. With the swipe portion of the card reader on the right, it is an awkward maneuver to attempt to swipe my card with my left hand, only to give up and use my right hand. Thank goodness for chip readers! 

  I am also old enough to have used a manual can opener. I’ve learned to do that right handed, since that is the only way to open a can that doesn’t have a tab. I still look for tab cans though. If I can avoid using a can opener, I will at any cost!

  Hugs (before COVID-19) were interesting, too. When I hug someone, I naturally go to my left and they (most often) go to their right. The resulting confusion makes for an awkward pause before having to try for a hug again. 

  Eating meals is also a bit of an ordeal. I have to do my best to locate the right handed people at the table and strategically orient myself into a spot where I won’t bump elbows with someone else when I pick up my fork to eat. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it can turn into one when my elbow is the reason someone else drops hot food onto their lap because I hit their elbow halfway to their mouth.

  All of these things are not complaints per se. These are simply observations from someone who has to do a double take sometimes when just living daily life.

  After many years of frustration when encountering tiny inconveniences, I have since accepted that I might sometimes have to take a moment to readjust and continue to find ways to adapt or overcome being a left-hander in a right-hander’s world.

  It does reassure me, though, when I am told “Hey, I’m left handed too!” 

  It means I am not alone and that someone else understands the little things that make being a left hander so unique. 

  So, in honor of last week being International Left Handers Day, Happy Belated Left Handers Day to all of you amazingly unique lefties out there!