Perhaps I simply don't understand the left-brain, right-brain stuff and the
biological determinism which people cite, but I'm skeptical.  Isn't
right-handedness at least partially culturally mandated?  Am I wrong in
assuming that there is a much higher percentage of left-handed people now
than in the past, and isn't this the result of greater permissiveness about
such matters?  (I don't mean that in a derogatory sense--I just mean that
fewer people seem to think it's a problem than they did a few decades ago.)
I well remember being slightly taken aback when my grade-school penmanship
instructor (who was also the principal) watched me, a left-hander, write, and
said, "If I had my way, I'd make you write right-handed, but they won't let
me do that."  But then I saw he had a twinkle in his eye, and I didn't worry
about it.

Really, folks, what difference does it make, except that some tools are
harder for left-handed people to use?  I still have a pair of left-handed
scissors that my father gave me, and they're slightly more comfortable (when
I think about it), but I've never had a problem with "right-handed" scissors.
 Writing on the right side of a loose-leaf notebook is awkward, but don't
right-handed people have trouble writing on the left side?!!  As far as
prejudice is concerned, any ostracism about my left-handedness is certainly
the most gentle (and amusing) I've ever suffered.  While I know that a
certain amount of serious scientific research on left-handedness has been
conducted, isn't most of it rather inconclusive?  By the looks of some of the
research which occasionally is reported in newspapers and magazines, a
lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek attitude seems prevalent.  I have yet to see
any solid evidence that being right-handed is better or healthier than the
alternative, other than the fact that most of our environment has been
constructed to favor the right-handed.

I suppose I'm an oddity among the left-handed: there are some one-handed
things I do primarily with my right hand, and I'm ambidextrous with others.
My biggest problem, which seems strange, is writing while holding a
phone--for some reason, I find it very awkward to hold a phone with my right
hand in order to write with the left; I assume this is merely because I got
too used to holding a phone with my left hand before I ever tried to write
while holding a phone.  I attribute this to poor planning.  But I do all
two-handed movements in the right-handed manner--swinging a baseball bat or
golf club, playing a musical instrument, shooting with a bow, etc.  But I'm
pretty good at left-handed compliments.

So if anyone would care to enlighten me on the biological or psychological
issues I'm missing, I'd be grateful for the information.

But I forget--why are we discussing this issue on this particular list?

David Haberstich

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