Being Left Handed
I was looking up some information on the web and ran across a web site for left-handedness. Left-handedness? Yes, left-handedness. I'm left-handed, so I followed the link.
Not much of what I saw was new to me, but it did serve to remind me of a lot, and to bring these things to the fore. Left-handedness is not uncommon. The ratio of left to right-handed people is about 1:10. Compare this to the ratios for many other "differences", and it is apparent just how common this is. Yet how few accommodations do you find for left-handed people?
This might beg the question: Why would a left-handed person need accommodations in the first place? Good question. An even better question is how a right-handed person would react if given a left-handed version of an object.
One of my favorites is the Skilsaw. I have a nice Skilsaw at home (made by the Skil company, no less). It's a handheld circular saw. It has a blade fence for safety, one that only uncovers the blade as it engages the board it is cutting. It has a trigger lock to prevent unintentional startup of the motor. For something that cuts wood by spinning a large disk of razor sharp cutting edges around at high speed, it's one of the most safety-laden tools I have.
It is a right-handed tool. In order to disengage the trigger lock with the right hand, you push a button. To do so with the left hand involves a modified grip that puts the operator in danger of dropping the saw. (I do it two-handed, leaving no hand on the work while I'm starting the saw.) When cutting, the saw ejects sawdust to the right and back. When using the saw with the right hand this ejects the sawdust away from the operator and behind them so it cannot obscure the cut. When using the saw left handed, it ejects the sawdust into the operator's face. (I wear eye protection any time I am in the shop, but this is still unsafe.) The times I have used the saw with my right hand I've come close to losing control of the tool.
This is far from a limited example. When I first started doing machining, the mill I used had all of the emergency stop buttons arranged for a right-handed operator. Lathes, on the other hand, almost seem designed for left-handed operators. (I'm still in love with the Monarch EE Toolroom Lathe, the one I learned on.) Drill presses have their quill feeds on the right side. Most scrollsaws have their power switches on the right side. These are not issues of convenience, they are issues of safety.
I've learned to adapt. It's that or lose body parts. Shop safety rarely splits hairs in this regard. But lest I seem to be whining, try this experiment:
Get a pair of left-handed scissors. Don't go cheap and get the gawdawful green-handled scissors you find in grocery stores. Go for broke and pick up a set of high-end shears with contoured handles. Fiskars is a nice brand if you're being picky. Now try to use them right-handed. Difficult? Awkward? Tough! That's how it feels to use right-handed scissors. That's what I learned to adapt to. And that's just scissors. It's a matter of convenience rather than safety. Ready to try that Skilsaw now? How about a drill press? Don't skimp now. You're putting a 1/2" drill through quarter inch plate steel, remember.
Now that you understand what a left-handed person is often faced with, I'll go into one of the ways not to address this difference: conformation. When I was in school I studied under several teachers. No surprise there. That's how the school system works. Each brought a different set of ideas (and ideals) to bear. Each had a different style and different expectations. For some, part of those expectations were that left-handed people would give up this evil habit and conform.
In case that seems to be a little strong, please understand it is not. I had one teacher tell me point-blank in front of the entire class that I was defective, and if the school district hadn't ordered her to stop doing it, she'd "fix" me by beating me every time I used my left hand. This was the state of things in some regions of the US in the 1850's, and was still the state of things in some regions of the US in the 1950's. Thank goodness it wasn't entirely the state of things in the 1970's, but it's obvious some people resented that and pined for the good ol' days.
Lucky for me I assumed the role of the screw-up early on, at least in school. With one exception all of my teachers gave up on me at some point. One of them stuck it out for an entire semester, twisting my paper and my arm around to unbelievable pretzel shapes every time I wrote, insisting that this was The One True Way. Thank goodness I ignored her and just went ahead and smeared my ink. I always got horrid grades in handwriting anyway, so I guess they just got discouraged. I certainly was. But at least now I can write without causing permanent wrist damage.
In time I learned to look for my own solutions. In junior high I began writing with a drafting pen. With a fine enough tip (3x0 in my case) the ink dries almost immediately, leaving no smear. For the first time in my academic life I came home at the end of the day with a clean hand. I learned to use right handed scissors. It's awkward to apply pressure in the right directions to keep the two blades of the shears engaged, but it's possible. I came to appreciate Fiskars, which take almost no pressure to pull this of. (I still hand-sharpen my scissors, a habit some people find eccentric but I find necessary.) I learned to use a drill press right-handed. The same is true of a mill, a mouse, a keyboard, a can opener, etc. It's certainly better than having a teacher spit insults and threats, but it's still a compromise.
But the situation is improving, at least in the schools. I don't see left-handed kids being targeted as much any more. They're simply left to grow as they grow, learn as they learn, and adapt as they adapt. I don't expect to find any left-handed drill presses any time soon, but at least no one will be there saying, "Twist it this way and hold your hand that way and what's wrong with you?!" Could it be that the world is becoming more tolerant of ten percent of its population?
At one point on one of the mailing lists for Tourette Syndrome the question was raised: What accommodations would you like for TS and why? The only one I could come up with was: Have everyone just deal with how I am and move on. It hasn't kept me from doing anything I wanted to do. It's only made things extremely uncomfortable when someone assumes I'm crazy because I tic constantly. In my reply I said I had a harder time because of the left-handedness than the TS. I don't think that was very well received.
But it's true. I have had a harder time because of the left-handedness. Not because of any inherent difficulties. The problem is that so much of our world assumes right-handedness. Ironically I probably could get accommodations for the TS, despite its only affecting roughly 0.5% to 1% of the population. But getting a company to buy left-handed mice, scissors, etc. is almost unheard of.
In case you happen to be left-handed, there actually are companies out there making left-handed versions of asymmetric products. Here's a store:
TheLeftHand
They even have my Fiskars.
--Pencil
Not much of what I saw was new to me, but it did serve to remind me of a lot, and to bring these things to the fore. Left-handedness is not uncommon. The ratio of left to right-handed people is about 1:10. Compare this to the ratios for many other "differences", and it is apparent just how common this is. Yet how few accommodations do you find for left-handed people?
This might beg the question: Why would a left-handed person need accommodations in the first place? Good question. An even better question is how a right-handed person would react if given a left-handed version of an object.
One of my favorites is the Skilsaw. I have a nice Skilsaw at home (made by the Skil company, no less). It's a handheld circular saw. It has a blade fence for safety, one that only uncovers the blade as it engages the board it is cutting. It has a trigger lock to prevent unintentional startup of the motor. For something that cuts wood by spinning a large disk of razor sharp cutting edges around at high speed, it's one of the most safety-laden tools I have.
It is a right-handed tool. In order to disengage the trigger lock with the right hand, you push a button. To do so with the left hand involves a modified grip that puts the operator in danger of dropping the saw. (I do it two-handed, leaving no hand on the work while I'm starting the saw.) When cutting, the saw ejects sawdust to the right and back. When using the saw with the right hand this ejects the sawdust away from the operator and behind them so it cannot obscure the cut. When using the saw left handed, it ejects the sawdust into the operator's face. (I wear eye protection any time I am in the shop, but this is still unsafe.) The times I have used the saw with my right hand I've come close to losing control of the tool.
This is far from a limited example. When I first started doing machining, the mill I used had all of the emergency stop buttons arranged for a right-handed operator. Lathes, on the other hand, almost seem designed for left-handed operators. (I'm still in love with the Monarch EE Toolroom Lathe, the one I learned on.) Drill presses have their quill feeds on the right side. Most scrollsaws have their power switches on the right side. These are not issues of convenience, they are issues of safety.
I've learned to adapt. It's that or lose body parts. Shop safety rarely splits hairs in this regard. But lest I seem to be whining, try this experiment:
Get a pair of left-handed scissors. Don't go cheap and get the gawdawful green-handled scissors you find in grocery stores. Go for broke and pick up a set of high-end shears with contoured handles. Fiskars is a nice brand if you're being picky. Now try to use them right-handed. Difficult? Awkward? Tough! That's how it feels to use right-handed scissors. That's what I learned to adapt to. And that's just scissors. It's a matter of convenience rather than safety. Ready to try that Skilsaw now? How about a drill press? Don't skimp now. You're putting a 1/2" drill through quarter inch plate steel, remember.
Now that you understand what a left-handed person is often faced with, I'll go into one of the ways not to address this difference: conformation. When I was in school I studied under several teachers. No surprise there. That's how the school system works. Each brought a different set of ideas (and ideals) to bear. Each had a different style and different expectations. For some, part of those expectations were that left-handed people would give up this evil habit and conform.
In case that seems to be a little strong, please understand it is not. I had one teacher tell me point-blank in front of the entire class that I was defective, and if the school district hadn't ordered her to stop doing it, she'd "fix" me by beating me every time I used my left hand. This was the state of things in some regions of the US in the 1850's, and was still the state of things in some regions of the US in the 1950's. Thank goodness it wasn't entirely the state of things in the 1970's, but it's obvious some people resented that and pined for the good ol' days.
Lucky for me I assumed the role of the screw-up early on, at least in school. With one exception all of my teachers gave up on me at some point. One of them stuck it out for an entire semester, twisting my paper and my arm around to unbelievable pretzel shapes every time I wrote, insisting that this was The One True Way. Thank goodness I ignored her and just went ahead and smeared my ink. I always got horrid grades in handwriting anyway, so I guess they just got discouraged. I certainly was. But at least now I can write without causing permanent wrist damage.
In time I learned to look for my own solutions. In junior high I began writing with a drafting pen. With a fine enough tip (3x0 in my case) the ink dries almost immediately, leaving no smear. For the first time in my academic life I came home at the end of the day with a clean hand. I learned to use right handed scissors. It's awkward to apply pressure in the right directions to keep the two blades of the shears engaged, but it's possible. I came to appreciate Fiskars, which take almost no pressure to pull this of. (I still hand-sharpen my scissors, a habit some people find eccentric but I find necessary.) I learned to use a drill press right-handed. The same is true of a mill, a mouse, a keyboard, a can opener, etc. It's certainly better than having a teacher spit insults and threats, but it's still a compromise.
But the situation is improving, at least in the schools. I don't see left-handed kids being targeted as much any more. They're simply left to grow as they grow, learn as they learn, and adapt as they adapt. I don't expect to find any left-handed drill presses any time soon, but at least no one will be there saying, "Twist it this way and hold your hand that way and what's wrong with you?!" Could it be that the world is becoming more tolerant of ten percent of its population?
At one point on one of the mailing lists for Tourette Syndrome the question was raised: What accommodations would you like for TS and why? The only one I could come up with was: Have everyone just deal with how I am and move on. It hasn't kept me from doing anything I wanted to do. It's only made things extremely uncomfortable when someone assumes I'm crazy because I tic constantly. In my reply I said I had a harder time because of the left-handedness than the TS. I don't think that was very well received.
But it's true. I have had a harder time because of the left-handedness. Not because of any inherent difficulties. The problem is that so much of our world assumes right-handedness. Ironically I probably could get accommodations for the TS, despite its only affecting roughly 0.5% to 1% of the population. But getting a company to buy left-handed mice, scissors, etc. is almost unheard of.
In case you happen to be left-handed, there actually are companies out there making left-handed versions of asymmetric products. Here's a store:
TheLeftHand
They even have my Fiskars.
--Pencil
posted by pencil at 9:22 AM
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