High Five - Left Hand, Please!
This holiday was first celebrated in August 13, 1976, due to the initiative of a group called Lefthanders International. The aim, obviously, is to further the cause of left-handers, who can be considered as minorities in this predominantly right-handed world.
Not convinced that left-handers are the minority? Consider these things:
- Name 10 friends. How many of them are left-handed?
- Go to a computer store. Do you see a lot of mouses (or mice, if you prefer) made for lefties?
- Pick up a pair of scissors, and try using your left hand to work it. Get my point?
Left-handed people are also called “southpaws,” something that boxing fans will know. Here are some famous southpaws:
- Manny Pacquiao – Filipino boxer. He is the only fighter to win nine world titles in seven different weight divisions. Definitely the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world today. (Yes, I am biased.)
- Adolf Hitler
- Bob Dylan – perhaps one of the best musicians ever.
- Steve McQueen – all he needed was a fast machine!
- Osama bin Laden
- Margaret Thatcher
- Angelina Jolie
- Barack Obama
A lot of studies have been done about left-handedness, and some suggest that left-handers are more creative than right-handers. On the downside, left-handers are supposed to be more forgetful.
Other pieces of information about lefties:
- Sinistrophobia is the technical term for the fear of left-handedness and everything related to the left side. The term could have been derived from the ancient Roman word “sinister,” which meant “left.”
- The Incas believed that left-handed people were blessed with good luck.
- Native Americans would strap the left hand of babies down in order to prevent left-handedness.
- Being left-handed used to be grounds for divorce in Japan. (Thank goodness this isn’t the case anymore!)
So what are you – left-handed or right-handed? In any case, give your left-handed friends a special pat on the back today, will you?
Photo credit: Jeff the Trojan
