Left Handers Club Newsletter – August 2009
In this issue..
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Don’t forget that you can see all previous newsletters in our archive
www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/newsletters.html
1. Left-Handers Day – August 13th 2009This is the Day when we celebrate how good it is to be left-handed and raise awareness among right-handers of what it is like to be left-handed in a right-handed world, including the little frustrations we face in everyday life. Every year we do press releases and promotions to the Media and encourage left-handers to have a bit of fun with it as well. There is lots of information about The Day on our Left Handers Day website. Click here for our page of ideas on how to celebrate and create your own “Lefty Zone” Click here to see our collection of posters and signs that you can download free
Media interest in the DayWe always get a lot of interest from newspapers, magazines, TV and Radio stations around the world and often they want to talk to a local left-hander to get some more information for their stories. Click here to see our blog post category for items where you may be able to get involved (click the individual excerpt headings to see the full post and the contact form to get in touch with us) BBC Newsround needs your helpOne that is very urgent is a request from the BBC Newsround programme – this is a national UK programme that has a very high profile so if you are planning any child-related event for Left-Handers Day you could get it reported on Newsround. |
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2. Claims that left-handers think differentlyWe all know that there is much more to being left-handed than just writing, and a new study published today suggests that we left-handers actually do think differently. The author of the study Daniel Casasanto, goes so far as to suggest that handedness may influence our decisions on everything we do, from the cereal we buy to whom we vote for.
He says “If righties write the textbook and create the exercises and set up the classrooms, they’re likely to arrange things according to this implicit ‘right is good’ preference,” Casasanto said. “Maybe that’s going to make learning math or going to school and sitting in the classroom just a little bit less pleasant or more disconcerting for lefties. Potentially, sensitivity to this could create better learning environments for lefties.” |
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3. Paws for thought: Cats found to be left or right handedScientists who played with 42 pet cats for weeks on end conclude that, like humans, moggies are left or right “handed” reports John Bingham in the Telegraph this week.
Psychologists from Queen’s University Belfast set the cats three tasks. The first involved retrieving a piece of tuna from a jar too small for their heads. In the others, the pets pawed at a suspended toy mouse. In the trickier jar test, there was a clear line between the sexes, the journal Animal Behaviour reports. All 21 males favoured the left paw for the task, while 20 out of the 21 females used the right. The researchers likened the pattern to the way in which humans would use either hand for a simple task such as opening a door but one or the other for writing. “The more complex and challenging (the task), the more likely we’re going to see true handedness,” Dr Wells was quoted in New Scientist as saying. Read John Bingham’s full article in the Telegraph Related article by Peter Wedderburn: Tom Cats: not stupid, just left handed |
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4. Soft Grip scissors and Curved blade Kitchen ScissorsSometimes our manufacturers stop making popular items and it takes us a bit of persuasion to get them back. After much arguing with the supplier, we have now got hold of more stock of two favourite left-handed scissors.
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5. Back to school – get your left-handed supplies in!The children have just broken up from school for the long summer break but school will soon return and we always have a flurry of parents making panic orders in early September for things they had forgotten. Get you order in early to make sure you don’t miss out. We have put together 3 different “Back To School” Packs that may help or you can have a browse around our Children’s Products section to choose the items you want for your left handed child. For the month of August only, get 10% discount on your whole order by entering Coupon Code CHILD in our shopping cart page after you have added your first item (it needs to be all in capitals with no spaces before or after it). You will see your discount calculated when you enter the checkout and click Next after entering your delivery country
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6. Left handed golf shirt
The picture is of left-handed European Tour professional Chris Gane testing out a pre-production sample of the shirt at the Glenbrae factory – he has now endorsed the shirts and will wear them on Tour. Click here for the full story and to add your name to our waiting list |
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7. Commenting on articlesYou can add your own comments to any of our articles or blog posts and we have made it much simpler by removing the need to register and log in. Just display the item you want and there will be a comment box at the bottom of it – enter your name and email address (which will not be published anywhere) and add your comment. That’s all there is to it! We are working on a system to allow you to subscribe to the item so you will be advised of any further comments added by other people and hope to have that active soon. Use the link below to add a practice comment and see how it works! |
That’s all for this month – we will be in touch again soon
Best wishes
Keith & Lauren
and all at the Left Handers Club
P. S. If you like what we are doing at the Left- Handers Club, please tell your family and friends about us so they can benefit as well
www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/recommend.html
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hello everyone,i just whated to say ,that it seems like there is a lot more lefties in the U.K then in the U.S.A,or it could be that the U.K just cares a little more,
When I was younger, my parents and brother taught me to do things right-handed, even though they knew I was left-handed e.g. holding cutlery, playing snooker. Now, because I was taught that way, I can’t change, even though I know I would be a better snooker player if I played left-handed.
When I was at school (many years ago now but still fresh in my memory as it was painful!) we had question-and-answer papers where the questions were all on the left side and spaces for the answers on the right side. It meant that I was constantly working across myself, moving the paper and/or my hand to see better and then having to find my place to put the answer in…grrrr…I’m sure it took twice as long for a leftie as for a right-handed person, but no extra consideration was made, and we were an accepting bunch. Nowadays I am transported back to those days when I do simple things like a crossword – where are all the left-handed crossword compilers??!
I have two LH children and one LH grandchild
Love the LH website. Keep up the good work!
Hi Keith,
thank you so much for sending me the lefthander club’s newsletter every month.
Surely i m interested on the latest news about the lefthanders things!thanks so much!
Happy Lefthanders’ day to all lefthanders!!
i want to introduce my e-mail, for whoever wants to connect with me :hellenceler@yahoo.com!!bye my friends….!
i know it is verry late to say this but with all of the best whishes: happy the left handers ‘ day my dears in club!!
hi,i want to thank you for showing me the problem and inform me!!byr
Hi how r u? i want say that i love u very much beacuse of ur nice web and im very happy beacuse of joned to that…i should say thanks sooooo much for ur nice mailing to me….and even its very lates but i like to say happy left handers day to all left handers…even myself…
Hey all!!
I am completely left-handed, meaning that there is just about NOTHING that i do right-handedly, and i’m proud of it. I’ve had a few million people breathing down my neck, ordering me to handle things with my right hand, but i don’t let them get to me.
From,
a really stubborn but proudest lefty.
Happy lefties’ day!
i’m the only lefty in my family that i know of and i’m really proud of that.
unfortunately for me, my family treats me as though i’m from a different galaxy when they find out about my handedness!! especially when i’m at a family function and am expected to eat with my right hand and i just can’t.. it’s frustrating when nobody understands me. add to it that my mother tries to ‘correct’ me.
but thanks to this site, i remember that i am unique, no matter what others think.. so thank you!! all of you, for reminding me that i’m not the only one and for making me feel much better when i’ve had a bad day because of something as trivial as the hand i use to write.
hi namitha i am also a left hander.In Wish you a happy lefthanders day.we are all unique.thankyou
I really enjoy your newsletters. I too have just acquired a left-handed cheque book from Barclays, it makes such a difference – I used to tear the cheques all the time, or try pulling them out upside down!!
Happy lefties day – also my birthday, what a good day to celebrate it.
Frances – Up the lefties
Barclays Bank offer left-handed cheque books to customers. I don’t know if other Banks do so.
Anyway I have one of these and it is quite amusing asking a righty to open it.
Following looking rather puzzled they tend to ask how you can work with it?
I believe it then gives them an insight into a leftys life in a right handed world and why they sometimes considered we do things awkwardly.
Happy LHD
Natwest do left handed cheque books i have had one for some time.
I used to be ambidextrous except for writing and drawing. Never mastered right handed
for those activities. Just wasnt comfortable.
In fact when i was a kid my parents were called to the school. They had a ‘problem’ with me.
My form tutor told them i keep going to write and draw left handed. What should she do!
Happy lefties day!
As a leftie who has always used the mouse on the right, I definitely feel that I’m at an advantage. It’s so efficient to have my writing hand separate from my mousing hand! The ergonomist at work, on seeing I was a leftie, once offered to move my mouse to the left, and I said no way! He hadn’t thought of it that way before! It’s actually a healthier balance of left and right usage! Now, I have what some would call a left-handed keyboard, but it’s marketed as a ‘mouse-friendly’ keyboard for ergonomic purposes. The idea is that by having the number pad on the left, the mouse is within closer reach. Keyboard centred, numbers left, mouse right. It’s great! I think righties should have their mice on left for the same reason, but not many have caught onto that yet! Lucky for us lefties, the righties introduced the mouse on the right, not having the forethought that one day the mouse would become so essential to computing that it would tie up their dominant hand.
There are a lot of little disadvantages to being a leftie, many of which I don’t notice/assume is normal, but in my opinion using a computer is not one of them! Overall, I find being a leftie interesting. 
Happy L-H Day!
You are right on target. I switched my mouse to the right and am able to answer the phone and write with my left while using my right hand to navigate on computer at the same time. Keeping the mouse on the right also makes it easier to share the computer with others.
I too love the ‘right handed mouse’ set up. Although, my boss comes in and moves everything when she sits at my computer to do something she has to scoot the mouse over, get paper from the left and … well, it’s a mess. Whoever came up with it must have been left handed (ha!). I’ve learned to live in a ‘right-handed’ world. I do bump elbows at the dinner table (my sister and I, both left handed, rush to grab a seat on the end in any family function), and scissors are the bane of my existence. If that’s the worst, I’m OK with it!
Happy Left-hander’s Day!!!
I always sit where I want to at a table. If a rightie has a problem with it, its their problem, not mine. If they ate properly and keep their elbows in when they eat, their is no problem.
Proud of being a leftie, righties are just jealous of us.
I’ve always used the mouse on the left (I was in my thirties when I started so I had the choice). It’s annoying to use the mouse with my right hand for more then a quick job here and there.
What I didn’t realize at first was that I could switch the mouse buttons. By the time I found that out I was perfectly comfortable using the mouse with my left hand but with right handed buttons. It’s more frustrating have the buttons set up for lefties then it is to use the mouse with my right hand. I just hold the mouse a little sideways in my hand and all is good.
Hi all you lefties out there and Happy Lefties Day!!!!!! x
Whilst growing up, being the only leftie in the family….including my twin whos a righty, it was hard!!!, in primary i used to get whacked with a wooden ruler over my nuckles for writting with my left hand!!!!!…….now your going to think im about 60/70 years young?????…..well im not!!!im 34 years young!!!!!!!…..i am disgusted to think back to how i was treated and i hope that children now a days are not treated in this way at schools!!!!!
Like another comment earlier that i read i too was taught how to knit with alot of time and effort from my mum……she eventually figured it out!!!!! She had to teach me facing me, so i was watching her back to front…….BINGO it worked!!!!!
Trying to teach me side by side was a waste of time and a nightmare lol lol!!!!!!!
My oldest neice is a leftie and i dont remember learnig to tye my shoelaces but she found this a big problem cause her mum (my sis) is a righty and didnt master teaching her how to do things….i was roped in in the end to show her how to tie her laces.
Remembering back to when i was a kid, the only thing that bothered me and still does, was cutting a slice of bread….i was never allowed to do it, as i cant cut straight and end up with a thick bit at one end and really thin at the other lol lol…..no door stop sandwiches for me lol lol lol.
I always thought it was just me until i discovered the lefty shop in London (gone now and its a FAB sweety shop!!!) and discovered lefty knives!!!!!….then knew that it wasnt my fault lol lol….my parents should have provided me with the right tools lol lol, lefty rulers are much easier too…but righties dont understand it….I love that fact lol lol!!!!!!!!!. My dad was working in the states a few years ago and brought me back a load of lefty stuff inc a notebook and it was great…..so going to seek out a lefty diary as not had one before…….and just adapted to the righthanded world as given no choice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BUT NOW A DAYS ALL YOU LEFTIES WE HAVE CHOICE…..SO LETS USE OUR OWN TOOLS AND NOT THOSE MADE FOR RIGHTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shiv………..loud and proud lefty!!!!!!!!!!
My friend recently saw me using my left-handed diary & wanted to know why she had never had one! Have now righted the situation & you may now have a new customer. She is new to computers & e-mails & have assured her that your website is very easy to manoevour. Love the newsletter & comments, nice to hear about other lefties!
Hi Kieth & All,
I’m leftie and would like to know why did you choose August 13th for the left-handers day please?
Also I would like to know how can we till if someone is fully left handed or not, is it by making him/her draw a circle or there are other tests we can use?
Thanks & Kind Regards
Ramez Fanous
Port Said
Egypt
In rely to Ramez : The 13th is a suitably “sinister” date for left-handers (the latin for left-handed is Sinistral, from which sinister comes) so it was chosen many years ago, and has remained. Not sure why August though.
A great way to find out how left-handed or “mixed handed” your family and friends are is with the test from our Left-Handers Day poster, which you can download free here (you will need Adobe Reader to open it)
http://www.lefthandersday.com/posters/DaVinciman.pdf
This is really an answer to Wendy. I’m also in your age braket, only a year older and as you say, we were born into a right Handed world and yes, we use right handed tools etc. I recently gave my right handed son my bread knife after I bought myself a left handed one. What a difference, at last, I can cut thinner slices of bread, just like my Mum (a rightie) could. I have have 2 sons who are both righties and 2 grandchildren, only the oldest writes, also with his right hand. I have both right and left handed scissors.Why should we compromise and use rightie’s tools and instruments, when we have our own?
Thank you for the newsletter.
hi! i’m 6 yrs.love the friendship of lefties.do the things different for us? expect the company. bye
sanuji
hi , iam a left hander .film director in srilanka .i would like to meet left handers
Hi…my name is Maggie I am mexican left handed girl, I am proud about it, in my famlily
I am only…when I was child I suffer in the school because I didn’t write like others children jeje, but my mother had a lot of patient and she helped me….I would like meet other left hand people and improve my english….
Since May 1st,I’ve had a most interesting experience–I badly broke my right wrist!(Now contains a large metal plate & 7 screws).
Up until now ,I’ve always been a confirmed Leftie,but now feel,because we were born into a right-hand world,we adapt!For instance,I write with my left,I drink my tea with my left,I use knife and fork conventionally,but not spoon and fork;I like my drinks containers to my left,and my side-plate to my right…,but have discovered,since my accident,I am a right-handed scissor user;my right hand is stronger for opening bottle/jar tops(We’ve been brainwashed by the not-so RIGHT-eous!)
Must say,I’ve never been bullied in any way to alter my handedness,so feel we must be subject to subtle societal pressure,which obviously works!
Thanks for your Newsletter. I always enjoy it and especially here in Cameroon…where it is still not well accepted to be lefthanded.
Thank you for your contribution to an inclusive world.
Pascale
Hello
Why are the numbers on a number pad/calculator upsidedown to a telephone?
I’ve had to adapt to a right handed world because I was the only person in my family to be left. No one would teach me to knit, not very good at cutting out, always told I was ‘awkward’. keggy fisted etc. I now knit, make my own greetings cards and am just learning to paint. My father in law when at school had to sit with his left hand behind his back (1930s).
A left handed wireless keyboard was bought for me at work about 6 years ago. It’s great as the number pad is on the left hand side. I didn’t get a left handed mouse though because all you do is go into the mouse properties and click on left instead of right handed. Then you have the mouse on your left and use the same fingers but your left hand eg forefinger for right click and middle finger for left click. So when instructions say use the right click you do a left click. This keyboard cost just over £100 at the time and it is still refered to as my ‘expensive keyboard’. My right side is not so strong and number crunching was giving me all sorts of problems but the lefthanded keyboard has alleviated that now. It’s great when IT have to sort out any problems for me because you can see them using the wrong click!
My music teacher told me that when music has been hand scribed you can tell it’s a left hander because the ’sticks’ on the notes are on the wrong side.
Babu – Look up ‘assistive technology for disabled’ (I am disabled but not because I’m left handed) in a search engine to get information about adapted keyboards, mice etc. I’m sure you’ll find a keyboard for one hand or check out assistive technology at your local Community Voluntary Services organisation.
I am very happy to receive your newsletters.I find them very interesting.I am 58 and no one else in my family,including my two children and so far one grandchild are left handed.However,I do find the need for left handed tools,implements and other items unnecessary.Left handed people are born into a right handed world and we adjust mostly without thinking about it.In my younger days I was a touch typist having learnt at school with all right handed students with no exceptions made for me or indeed asked for or expected.I am pleased to be left handed as it makes me different and do not feel at any disadvantage whatsoever no matter what right handed people may think.I admit there are many degrees of left handed and footedness and I probably started out completely left handed but have become ambidextrous which is no bad thing and puts me ahead of mear right handed people.I think it is right handed people who think we need help.My friend who is right handed has a left handed baby and is already looking for left handed things for him.Why?.He will manage as easily as a right handed person because he wont know any different and he will adapt with ease.Another of my friends who is right handed puts her left arm into a coat first and left shoe on first because as a child that is the way her left handed mother dressed her.Has anyone else come across this?.I will end saying Im lefthanded and proud of it just like all the other leftys out there.
Thank you so much for keeping the lefties of the world supplied and updated. We are a small but mighty force in society and often misunderstood and definitely not catered to at all. I love your articles, products and information.
I always look forward to having your newsletter come into my email!
Keep up the good work.
Laurie – a complete and proud Lefty
Love the newsletter. So glad to get the new link. I was genuinely disappointed last night when I could not access the newsletter. They are so informative and interesting. Glad there is so much interest from the left handers of the world!! Keep up the great job.
Have you tried ‘5 Finger Typing’ a typing tutor for right or left hand only. Can’t remember the publisher, but I think it’s still available
I guess that I luckier than most as I am ambidexterous and have been using the right hand for the keypad as well as for a regular calculator and using my left hand for writing down the answers, a great advantage over righthanders. I also use a wireless keyboard and mouse so I can move both to a more comfortable position as needed.
Regarding HTML or plain text: I remember a time when the process of signing up for a newsletter included an option to select HTML or plain text. If your setup allows such an option, that could be the solution.
I enjoy your newsletters and appreciate your tips. However, I cringe when I see the concave index finger in handwriting demonstrations. Personally, I have never had trouble keeping my index finger straight or convex, and find it reduces tension as well.
We have to do a ‘risk assesment’ every time we move desk / computer at work – people in the office have all sorts of fancy gadgets to help them out, I have been requesting a left handed key board and more importantly a left handed curser for years now – the IT department don’t ever seam to have heard of this! I am sure windows used to always have a left handed curser, it seams now they have several hundred diferent ones and non of them are left handed! it is a good job we are such an adaptable bunch!
Kath
sharukh: I have seen keybaords with the numpad on the left, some years ago: they were about 70 pounds IIRR, which seemed to me far too much. I haven’t see (though haven’t looked for, at that price!) them recently.
However, you could use a “compact” keyboard (i. e. one without a numpad), along with a separate numpad, and arrange them how you like – both are widely available.
I find it natural to use the mouse with my left and numeric keypad with the right. I pity the poor right-handers who have to move their hand off of the keypad to mouse to the next column when filling in a spreadsheet or similar table of numbers.
-Ken
Is there any way to order items and write a check?
Thanks..JoAnn
Hi All!
I work as a designer (draughtsman, if you speak English) and work the keyboard with the left hand and the mouse with the right hand. I work at least twice as fast as a right-handed CAD operator.
Lefties do it right!
Regarding left handed keyboards. Yes you can buy them and I have one which I find really helpful especially as I am an accountant and I use the number pad a lot. I can use a right handed keyboard.
I have a wireless right handed keyboard at home as the other half is right handed. This means we can move the keyboard to whatever position we like.
I have noticed that right handed people come unstuck when using a left handed keyboard which is strange as only the number pad (and delete key etc) is only on the left. The main body of the keyboard is still the same.
Just goes to show that left handers cope better than “righties” at some things!
Bridgette
Here’s a left-handed keyboard for sale in the US:
http://www.provantage.com/ergoguys-kbs-29blk~7ERG900R.htm
Haven’t tried it, but I’ve never been able to use the right-side number pad and have just gotten proficient with the top number keys. I’ll be ordering this one.
A VERY USEFUL
AS WELL AS AN INFORMATIVE TOO.
I’m
HERE IN THE BANGALORE CITY,
FEELING LUCKY
TO JOIN THE LEFT HANDERS’ CLUB,
BUT
IS THERE ANY CLUB;
RIGHT HERE IN BANGALORE…
@sharukh — I know that keyboards with detachable number pads are available. They are made so that the number pad can be attached to either the right or left side of the keyboard, thus making the keyboard right- or left-handed. Maybe a search engine would have more info.
Personally, I learned years ago to use the numberpad with my right hand, but that was only through having no other choice. Good luck with finding a left-handed keyboard!
Is there a left handed keyboard? I find it difficult to use the num pad at the right, keep shifting my right hand away and left hand to the right.
Please let me know if it is available anywhere.
Hi All, Keith here.
Firstly, apologies if you got an error in linking here from the email I sent you. We have recently moved the web site to a new dedicated web server and are having problems with the level of traffic of all the lefties visiting the newsletter at the same time! Our technical people are working on the server configuration to optimise things so hopefully we won’t have the problem again.
Thanks to all the members who have contacted me to let me know about the problem.
I have had a lot of comments from people direct to me by email so I will post the ones that I think are of general interest here, together with my responses.
Hi Keith, in your email today. you left out the dash in left-handed [http://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/newsletters/200908.html] so the August newsletter won’t open. Cheers, Eric (And I still love my left-handed scissors!)
Keith said: Thanks for your vigilance but in fact it was deliberate. We have move a new version of our web site to the domain name WITHOUT the hyphen as it has always caused confusion. But… the new server got overloaded with all the people linking to the newsletter and collapsed so the link was not working overnight (see above)
I can’t believe that so many people care about the left handed. I used to go to a left handed shop in Soho, I think it was called ‘Everything Left Handed” Was it in Beak Street, perhaps you know? Chris
Keith: That was our shop Anything Left-Handed – in Beak Street from 1968 to mid 80s then in Brewer Street nearby until we had to close it due to ever-rising costs.
And I am very impressed that you even knew I was trying to access the link !!!, John
Keith: Don’t worry, Big Brother has not taken over. I could not tell that you personally could not access it, only that we had a problem overall so I sent the follow up email to all members to be sure I covered everyone who may have had a problem.
Have you seen Mailchimp? It might help you enormously…. I have nothing to gain – other than trying to help, Chris
Keith: Thanks Chris. We use aWeber for our e-mail list management and sending out newsletter e-mails because of their reputation for security and high e-mail delivery rates, but I will have a look at MailChimp (a free email service).
In the past we have sent the newsletter in HTML format so people can read it in their e-mail browser and only visit the site if they click a link for more details on an item. This has meant that some people have been unable to open the newsletter so this time we created the whole newsletter on our website and sent out a text only e-mail linking to it. A higher proportion of the text only e-mails get properly delivered but it does mean that everyone who clicks to read the newsletter is loading the page on our website and that has led to the problems as thousands of people have accessed the site in a very short time period.
We are investigating to see if we can find a better way of dealing with this and, if not, we may need to go back to sending the newsletter in formatted HTML style. Once we have all the options available I will let Members know and run a survey to find out what people prefer.
I just wanted to comment on your newsletter. I am thrilled to have found it! I am 53 and proud to be left handed. The only one in my family that is , but that suits me fine. I always tease right handers telling them they do every thing backwards and couldn’t possibly know or have the intelligience we lefties have, all in good fun. Keep up the great letters! Thanks.
Geraldine, Pittsburgh Pa USA
Keith: Glad you like what we are doing!
Thanks so much for giving me the ‘heads-up’ on the web site not functioning. It’s great to see that people really do care. Congrat’s to You and your Team. Keep up the good work. Much Appreciated
From Carrie, A very proud lefty.
how to operate computer with left hand only,i find it difficult to type or operate