Things right-handers do to annoy left-handers!
This idea came in from Barbara after reading our list of things left-handers do differently. She thought it would be a good idea to look at this from the other side and produce a list of things right-handers do that annoy us left-handers. We know they don't do them all deliberately so this is a bit tongue-in-cheek (but they are still annoying!). Barbara wanted to start of the list with "putting the clues for crossword puzzles on the left of the diagram" and we have put that first on this new page.We have added a few more that come to mind to us and would love to have your suggestions as we think this could be quite a long list! Please scroll down and add you own ideas as comments.
- Putting the clues to crosswords on the left side of the diagram
- Designing forms and multiple choice papers with the answer boxes on the right so we cover the questions with our hand while trying to write the answers and have to keep taking it away to see.
- Plugging in and positioning kettles and other kitchen equipment so they can only be used right-handed.
- Turning the bread round the wrong way so that we have to reverse it to cut a slice off the left end (they also use silly knives that are serrated on the left side of the blade to make it difficult for us to cut straight slices, but there is a left-handed bread knife you can replace it with to annoy THEM!).
- Designing magazines the wrong way round so that the front page news is actually on the back page (most left-handers flick through magazines using their left thumb, so starting from the "back").
- When they want something signed or filled in, they position the paper angled for right handed people.
- I find it difficult to stack the dishwasher after my right-handed family members have started to do it. They fill it from the wrong side, so when I approach with dishes in left hand they are always the wrong way round for stacking. Or maybe its just me?!
- Most ready made garment manufacturers have product designed for the convenience of RH people as the pocket is on left side. For ease & convenience of Left Handers, shirt pocket need to be on right side.
- Home improvement store hedge trimmer. Has the air intake on the right side so when I hold it down by my left hip to use it, it smothers it and I have to restart it.
- Right handers change the handles of your drills and right angle grinders to suit them but don’t change the handles back when they return them.
- The thing that really annoys me is that the iphone swipes open from left to right and there is no option for changing it to right to left!
- Even though they remove our empty glass from the left-side of our plate, waiters always replenish our drinks by putting glass back on the right side, so we have to cross our plate (and soil our dress sleeves) to get it. I once gave a waiter a hefty tip for recognizing I was left-handed and replacing my drink on the left-side where he had removed it from.
- I am a Registered Dental Hygienist, you can not imagine the pain and agony that being left handed has caused me, trying to squeeze into the corner beside the left side of the dental chair instead of the Right. My number one pet peeve is that there are still colleges that train only RIGHT HANDED Hygienist. Lefty, NO PROBLEM, learn to be right handed or do not go to school there!! How asinine is that?
- I recently gave up a basic adults carpentry course, as the vices on the tables were all set up for right handed people and to saw properly, I would have to climb on the table. Surely there are pupils at that school who are left handed and therefore at a great disadvantage?
- Moving my mouse to the right side of the keyboard and not returning it to the left side.
- Telling me there is something wrong with my scissors (I use a left-handed one).
- Banks and other teller positions have the pen with chain on the right side, and lefthanded have to reposition ourselves to use the pen. Why not put a pen on the left side so we can use the pen.
- Putting knives and forks etc away in a drawer with handles on the right hand side.
- Food buffets with the trays and serving utensils angled conveniently for righties…..argh.
- When someone tells me that I am doing something backwards” when I use my left hand! My husband is one of THOSE righties who tells me that and it really annoys me!
- Going up to a ticket barrier on the train/underground. I always hold my ticket/oyster card in my left hand, so have to cross my arm over in front of myself to tap it on the barrier to my right. And I’ve seen left handed tourists who aren’t so familiar with the ticketing system try to put their ticket in the barrier to their left, and then wonder why they can’t get through!
- I have to open all zippers with my right hand or it would feel weird if i used my left one.
- When our deliveries show up, we have to sign the hand held scanner. The stilus is tethered on the top at the upper right side. Leaves me with much shorter length to sign.
- I’ve noticed that medication is always packaged so that it’s more convenient for right-handers to extract. Every time I open a packet containing tablets, I open it from the left, where the medication is always blocked by the patient information leaflet, so you have to close up the packet and open it at the other end. I now always take out the medication as soon as I receive it, turn round the patient information leaflet and insert the medication from the left side. This saves the frustration of finding I can’t get at it each time I open the packet.
- I refuse to buy a right-handed kettle, I can’t understand why the manufactures are so rich they are able to discriminate against such a large proportion of the market - if it were to do with ‘skin colour’ it would be against the law.
- I hate camcorders you can not hold them as straps are all ways for right handers.
- I was at a Jamie Oliver party recently and all the ladles on sale had the spout on the wrong side. Three of us out of 8 people at the party pointed out that the rep had potentially lost 3 sales … don’t know if these things get reported back to the company though.
- Right handers ALWAYS make their checkmarks backwards! Notice the one at the top of this page, it is the correct way.
- My right handed wife twists twist ties in the wrong direction, so if I want a slice of bread from a bag after she’s closed it, I end up tightening it.
- Cups with patterns on one side - either inside or outside - printed so that left handers can’t see them.
- Expecting you to take change from them with your right hand! ugh.
- It’s the diagrams! All the ones that are showing you how to do things - knitting, crochet, calligraphy, putting flat packs together and anything else you might like to mention. Always for right-handers - don’t they realise how many of their audience are lefties?
- I go to a dog training club where they insist the ‘right’ way to walk a dog is to have it on your right. I feel far more comfortable and in control walking him on my left, but am constantly being ‘corrected’ Aaaarrrrggghhh!!!!
Keep them coming! - please add you own "annoyances" as comments below.
Comments 347
Test gear is always set up so the adjustment controls are on the right so you cover the dials or screens when you use them.
lawn mowers have the thottle conrtol on the right.
Power saws eject the sawdust on the right side so you get splattered with sawdust.
Some power tools have a button om the left side. It is meant to be pressed with the right thumb if you want to lock the motor on. I have to pull them apart so I can disable them because otherwise they are always locked on.
I'm a gamer, and a left handed joystick is twice the price as it's right handed equivalent. There are precious few good quality left handed joysticks.
Also, can openers are made for right-handed people so lefties have to hold them in an awkward way to use them.
When making contactless payments the machine is always set at an angle for right handers, so I have to turn my hand at an awkward angle to pay.
You cannot buy a left handed chainsaw nobody makes one. A righty is protected from "kickback" by the motor placement but a lefty has no protection.
I'd like to just once buy a tape measure that I don't have to read upside down
Coffee makers that make it nearly impossible to pour water in on the left side
The list on tools alone is endless. Dial calipers, micrometers, rulers, drill presses circular saws and almost all power tools up to and including Lathes and milling machines are all right handed and no left hand option is available.
I've also never had any problems flushing toilets with my left hand, and I usually hold my phone in my left hand and have no problem unlocking it with my left thumb, swiping left to right. Also notice how the three most common letters in English, e, t, and a, are on the left-hand side of the keyboard, and the keyboard shortcuts for cut, copy, and paste are done with the left hand.
Again, I'm not saying the world isn't strongly righty-biased, but rather than relying on "crossing over" to make basic movements like pressing buttons or opening doors, and instead of complaining about the way your phone gestures work, why not develop some basic skills with your "wrong" right hand? And is it really hard to learn to swipe left to right with your left thumb? If I, a righty, has never had problems doing this with his "off hand", I can't believe it's a difficult skill for a lefty to learn with his dominant hand. I've always thought learning to do things with the off hand was something lefties had more practice with anyway. Am I wrong about that?
Arm wrestling
Thumb wrestling
Swiping your lock screen open
Shaking hands with people
Elbows
Keyboards for computer
Guitar
Scissors
most car controls
my sewing machine controls
Controls on the "wrong side: TV,radio and pretty much anything else
Manual can openers turn the wrong way
I turn the wrong way dancing
I turn knobs etc backwards and loosen them so they fall off
This took me a while figure out... and a couple of rolls of border..
When applying border paper to walls, a lefty needs to re-roll the roll backwards or end up putting the border on upside down. We instinctively move left to right instead of right to left
Along those lines, cooking. I am the only lefty in a family of five, and regardless of who cooks, at some point I'm going to have to turn a pot or pan so that I can hold the handle in my right hand and manipulate the accompanying utensil with my left. That may be to stir or serve, but it happens at least once with every home-cooked self-serve meal.
Of course, if they come along after me for some reason I'm sure they realize I've passed through the area, because it doesn't generally occur to me to switch it back, so that's probably more a two-way annoyance than anything.
And I hate dissection tools. I'm a biologist and I'm doing my thesis on anatomy, so dissecting is a nightmare. There aren't many tools for lefties in Mexico, and I only own scissors, which are the only kind of lefty tool I've ever seen. So I have to cut tissue with right-handed scissors and use the medical tools that are made for righties. I do my best, and I prefer to use a surgeon's knife other than the annoying scissors, but I can imagine what it must be for a surgeon.
This same scenario explains why I have difficulty undoing the twist tie on a loaf of bread that my right-handed Mom did. She admits the also has difficulty undoing the twist ties that I do! So funny.
although living in a fairly modern city a capital of state in India. I am currently pursuing final year engineering in computer science
I workshop practice in the first semister ,and believe me it was a total right handed arena, i must admit i somehow managed through it and score 48/50 by acting or playing or performing as a right handed version of myself!!!!(i hope u get the meaning) i felt that it was just not me itself doing all the filing,cutting even welding
one funny incident that happened in this pursuit was:
we had to make markings in form of perforations on the metal piece to make it a model, these perforations were to guide cutting later!
to do marking we had to use a nail and a hammer
i had nail in my left and hammer in right as a righty would have! , and it was so funny i just could'nt hit the nail not even once with the hammer in my right! the hammer was going elsewhere due to lack of motor skill lucky though i did'nt hit or hurt myself!!
seeing this the instructor came and told "use the other hand" i guess he knew i was left handed! after that the task was a walk in a cloud
although he commented "that left handers look so awkward and bad when they do things that are natural for left handed people, rather he told do it right way".
so mean!!.
2)many right handed people say how difficult and stupid it looks when we write! and even more comments if our handwriting turns out beautiful!
they say how do we write,whereas their left hand writing is illegible!.
i feel like yelling "its commonsense any person writing with non dominant hand,the writing is illegible only na! and legible if written with dominant hand"
3)eating with our "correct(left)" hand is something i rather not talk about here in India.
4)I am the only left handed in family my mom,dad and grandparents are righties, then people go to ask how come i became left handed
It annoys me when a righty tells me I don't need left handed scissors to cut things. Wrong, it just folds the paper if I use right handed scissors!
Also, in regard to the chained pen issue alread mentioned a few times, I now just blatently refuse to use it and demand an unteathered pain. If the bank/business seem annoyed I point out that there is a hight percentage of left-handers than there is of homosexuals, and yet they would make great efforts to fix anything that might seem prejudice against them.
I also work at a movie theater and I have gotten to the point where I start ranting and raving anytime a right-hander accidentally picks up my left handed popcorn scoop and says "UGH! Who put this out?" The thing that makes me angry is the fact that they always pick up the left handed scoop because they are so used to NOT looking for the correct handed scoop. We are the ones that are having to pay attention to what we pick up, where we sit at a restaurant, etc. I'm tired of things always going their way! And why do I have to constantly hear them whine and moan about one little lefty popcorn scoop, when I've spent my whole life adjusting to this right-handed world!
The mouse for the computer is cordless and saves crossed wires.
We get our revenge when filling in forms which are in Hebrew. Hebrew is a right-left language so we can see the question and also write without hiding or obliterating anything.
When I was learning to drive a scooter I was told to put my right foot down when I stopped in order to keep balance. I told the instructor that I am a leftie and was easier to use my left foot, he smirked and said "those are the rules of the MOT, but after your test use whichever foot you want". Neddless to say I walked away from the scooter leaving him to pick it up and never returned.
2) Shaking hands with the right. In European countries shaking hands with the right hand indicated you were willing to put down your sword. In African countries, shaking hands with the left hand indicated you trusted your enemy enough to put down your shield. Lord Baden-Powell adopted the African method and to this day Boy Scouts and Girl Guides/Scouts shake with the left hand.
3) My grandmother taught me to crochet by having me face her and mirror her actions. I learned to knit right handed because it involves both hands more or less equally and was easier to follow directions as written, but I cast on and add stitches with a crochet hook left handed, which drives my fellow knitters berserk.
4)There are a number of can/tin openers with the winder on the top which can be used in either direction. I have one.
5)If you have trouble finding left handed scissors or shears, look for the kind that look like pliers that are used by people with repetitive stress or arthritis. I think they're made my Fiskar. Although the blades are "right handed," because you squeeze them with your fingers and the pad of your palm, they don't pull apart like traditional right handed scissors do when you use them left handed.
6)Wait staff are instructed to put glasses on the right so everyone knows whose glass it is. The placement of dishes goes back to formal dining when servants learned to serve on one's right side and remove from the left to prevent spilling food on their masters.
Just some random thoughts on those little annoyances.
All pens have the labels printed so that when a leftie uses them, the label is upside down.
I always think it funny, so they see how annoying it is, if you can't use something, just because it is made for the "wrong" hand......
Natwest Bank have very kindly supplied me with left handed cheque books for a few years now. When I recently visited Santander and asked for a left handed cheque book for a joint account (as I write out the majority of the cheques) I got a strange look and was told that such a thing was not available.
And when sitting at roundtables, I have to move my chair towards the right so I won't start hitting chopsticks with the person on my left... Always need to look out for them... They don't realise there may be a problem.
2) Glass Measuring cups...I'm from the USA. We use standard measurements still. When holding the pyrex cup
in the right hand, it shows ounces, cups...but when held in the left it is in metric units. The new ones are better.
3) Ink pens...holding them in the right hand, the logo is right-side up. In the left hand, the brand name is upside down.
4) Classroom desks. Arm rest is for right arm. When writing with left arm, there is no rest and the arm is forced to hang off
the desk in midair.
p.s. I also read magazines back to front, and can write reverse. Did a backwards calligraphy job on a storefront glass once
as a teenager, per the owner's request. It was easy and I didn't have to worry about smudging!
I have long wanted to set up an entire left-handed classroom or kitchen and film some righties trying to use it. Would be interesting!
Due to that right-handed guitar, I now have trouble converting back to lefty.
I love this list you have started. Some things I had just accepted as "that is the way it is" but some I had not realised were actually problems because I am a leftie, hopefully they will annoy me less now. Thank you for all you do.
Colette
After living with a right hander for many years I am now finally the most settled I have ever been as everything is now set up for a left hander. Even my 2 kids have adapted quite well to the challenge! Easier for the youngest who I think should have been left handed as he does such much left handed including archery - not bad for a righty!
BTW, Does anyone remember the old fashioned computers with pen scanners built right into the case? I became semi ambidextrous because of that one. The scanner was positioned high on the case...(for a right handed guy). Fortunately, the spiral cord was stretchable, but it was STILL a GD NUISENCE!
Cashing a check is dead on, whenever I go to the check cashing place the pen is always on the right side, for a left handed person to reach for the pen and pull it is a chore, my handwriting already sucks and using this pen that is weighted down that is on the right side makes my life even harder.
Shockingly, when I lived in San Antonio, TX with my 2nd wife the front door was a left handed door, whoo hoo, so it was easy for me to unlock both locks with my left hand, then turn the knob with my left hand to open the door, now locking it from the inside with the dead bolts that was a different story, you go it the locks on the inside were on the right side,ugh, so I had to move to the right side to blot the locks.
I forgot about the lawnmower, oh my that was a chore to do, I agree with you there.
Also, It took me years to realize why I could never learn how to drive a stick shift: DUH, here in the US the stick shift is for righties, if I were in Europe where the steering wheel is on the right side and the stick shift is on the left then I probably could learn to use a stick shift, but I still hate them anyway, regardless.
Another time while working the front desk with my ofcrs, we were all writing reports, this man came in and comment that this was all wrong here. I asked what he was talking about. He said all 5 of you are left handers.. And that is so wrong.. Ugh loser!
I've only been able to have a camcorder recently now that they are smaller and lighter with SD cards so that I can hold it steady in the wrong hand?
I help out in our despatch dept sometimes all the tape guns are for righties ,the grip is designed for a right hand thumb and fingers used in the left hand you soon get a blistered hand
Most ready made garment manufacturers have product designed for convenience of RH people as the pocket is on left side.
For ease & convenience of Left Handers, shirt pocket need to be on right side.
See link for example:
https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_64/11496127581H6Db5.jpg
Sight-reading became more easy, since I copy the sheets mirrow-inverted.
Why? Becuase they will mostly be carrying their equipment on their right hand, and may need the wall/rail on their left to guide them.
So going down stairs on the left is the correct way to do it, everyone else is swimming against the tide!!
But it does not matter. We can do it but they cannot :).
I have a question for the owners of this website...why when I want to reply to a comment does it take me to the home page of the website and not to this page and the comment I want to reply to? Quite annoying to have to search through the website to get back here and then I can't usually find the comment I was reading in my e-mail.
Makes me think the link was designed by someone who is right-handed! LOL
Also, if I enter the wrong Capcha [sp] I get an error message but no way to simply go back and do it again. Instead, I have to close out from the error message, find my way back to the comments page and start all over. Another right-hand design, perhaps? ;-)
There's enough lefties now to argue against the tired old excuse that there isn't enough demand to justify the cost. I'm tired of having to adjust. Right handers would be annoyed if they had to make as many adjustments as we do.
As for irons, I must be lucky, as mine has a cord that can be detached and plugged in on the opposite side.
Telling me there is something wrong with my scissors (I use a left-handed one).
Also, has anyone else found that right handers do not understand our frustration when things are not suitable for lefties?!
By the way some banks do issue left handed cheque books.
Although my wife is left-handed too, she still finds the new cheque book annoying, as she is less left-handed than me, i.e., she does some things in a right-handed way, which I find difficult. Perhaps she has adapted better to a right-handed world - I call her a quitter (-;
Is this a mistake? It'd make more sense if it said "right-handed"
Also, some of the side-by-side fridges, the right side opens up to show the refrigerator and the left side is the freezer. Chances of me wanting frozen food is lower.
In banks and public offices when they attach pen on chains only long enough for right handers to use.
waiters insisting to fill you glass and place it back on your right hand side.
counter. This makes it awkward to sign on the left-hand side, as you first have to stretch the cord over or around the paper, then turn the pen to hold it properly.
Used to happen with the old style paper Travelcards too!!
TFL should be told their barriers discriminate against us lefties!!
- computer mouse is shaped to fit the right hand mostly (design wise) ..if you tried to use your left hand it would be uncomfortable.
- i have to open all zippers with my right hand or it would feel weird if i used my left one.
- most people were their watches in their left hand.. i do it too so i don't look different.. but it could be a heavy load sometimes.
Maybe because I grew up with my family proud of my left-handedness, but I don't mind looking different, so I have a left handed watch (got it here at Anything Left-Handed!) and I wear it on my right arm. I LOVE causing panic for righties who glance at my watch to check the time - they misread the time, as it runs counter clockwise! Hee, Hee!
* Stapling pages together: their staple is OK in the upper left side. But it points downward from this corner, to the bottom right one. Offering only one resistance (before the other) against flipping pages. Hence increasing the risk of tearing your page.
False pawns do the clamping so both ends of the staple take the effort.
* A propos serrated knives: I hate either left- or right-side serrated knives. I want my knife not to rotate during the cut (unless I'm peeling fruits for example). And, yes when you use a right-side serrated knife with your left hand, you end up creating a succession of dents.
Also, the mouse/track pad placed left of centre rather than in the middle, giving lefties only a small area to perch their hand on whilst moving the cursor.
all computer mouses are always on the right side.
I have to turn the plate so my wrist doesn't get into my food. They COULD compromise and
put it in the center of the plate arranged nicely, but nooo (though we do at the hotel I work at).Speaking of restaurants,
they put the drinks on the right, silverware on the right (if rolled up in a napkin) and hardly put
anything on the left except when your plate, bowl, etc needs to be taken away.
Gary.
i don't really care how much water is in the cup with the visible metric side if grasp the cup with your left hand, but would like to know when i get to two cups of water for my rice, which i can only view when grasping the cup in my right hand.
pet peeve o' mine for sure.
2. Recently was given a pan strainer that has a lip on the edge meaning it only fits on the left hand side of the pan and I have to twist my hand backwards to use, and usually spill everything in the sink.
3. being handed forms to complete in that way that assumes you are right handed.
4. pens secured to desks (used to be mainly banks) on the right hand side so you can't reach them.
5. washing machines/dryers etc all open the wrong way
on the other hand, things I am grateful for...
1. all sewing machines are left handed (invented by a left hander!!!)
2. in the UK all cars are left handed - well, I think they are, they are miles easier to drive than those with left hand drive - does that make any sense?
Always having to shake hands with people that you meet with the right hand.
scissors designed for right handed use.
1)Computer Keyboards that have the built in numeric pad on the right. I'm always having to lean over to operate them. It's not much difference with the numeric keys spread across the keybopard itself.
Also, the enter/return carriage key is also on the wrong side. To make matters worse the M'soft 4000 keyboard has the audacity to have two enter buttons on the right side, one for the characters and one for the numerics...aaaaaaaargh!!!
2) Remote control handsets, the on/off button nearly always is top right
3) Power Tools, the safety button is often on the left for a right hand thumb (my chop saw being a good example)
4) Most items with vertical hinges are on the right-sort of.
5) Tear off strips on padded/Jiffy bags
6) Bicycles, all of the geartrain is on the right
7) Scroll bars on computer pages- someone said you can configure these-but I've never found how to
I'm sure there's more.......
As a good cook, I am annoyed by kitchen design generally - it flows the wrong way. When we were having our new kitchen planned, I tried to set it up correctly, but the (left handed) design rep couldn't work out what I was saying. She was used to designing for the right handed world.
i read magazines backwards, too, and never knew why!
I've also never had an issue with bread knives.
Picking up a knife that has been used by a right hander to butter bread/toast and getting butter on my fingers from the wrong side of the knife.
Shop assistants handing me a slip/receipt to sign with the paper pointing towards my right hand - I make a point of moving the paper.
Pens on chains in banks/post offices on the RHS.
It's really great fun watching the cashiers struggle with that.
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