After days of nagging, my mom finally made me sit down and register for the ACT. I answered the typical questions: name, address, birthday, grade, race and gender. I wasn’t surprised or caught off guard until I reached the last question.

“Are you right or left handed? (for test center seating).”

Not only was I confused, but rather offended.

Why do I have to sit in a separate seat just because I’m left handed? If someone wanted to cheat off my test, my left arm is not going to stop them.

The only reason I was relatively pleased they asked this was I knew I would not get stuck sitting in a small desk made specifically for right-handed people.

I already suffered that annoyance freshmen and junior year every time I stepped into Mr. Bertalott’s room. Nothing is more uncomfortable, hard or frustrating than taking a test in a right-handed desk. As annoying as it was, these desks are only one of the inconvinence I’ve had to overcome being left handed.

Think about all the items designed specifically for right-handers: scissors, can-openers, water fountains, computer mouses, spiral notebooks, tape measurers, guitars or door handles. I could go on forever about all the items and appliances I’ve learned to put up with in this right-handed world.

Playing softball in grade school only caused pain. Sixth grade girls aren’t trained to pitch to a left-handed batter, and I suffered many bruises after being hit in the arm or leg with a fast-pitch. I was also forced to play first base, the stereotypical position for left-handed players.

In gym class freshmen year, I received a 7 out of 10 during a basketball drill because Ms. Bode made me shoot with my right hand like all of the other students.

I’ve never been able to write an in class essay or even a simple math problem without smearing the ink or lead. And I’m sure the 5 to 10 percent of people that are left handed also know what I’m talking about: your whole pinky side of your hand being completely gray at the end of every school day. It’s inevitable, messy and just frankly annoying.

Writing on a white board is completely useless for me. Every time I try, I end up erasing things as I pull my hand across it to write the next letter.

I’ll never forget the day my mom gave my brother and I assigned seats at dinner. Because he uses his right hand to eat and I use my left, we kept hitting each others’ elbows and quickly instigated fights. My mom had to arrange the way we sat so I could eat my pasta in peace.

I’m not quite sure who to blame for causing me all these frustrations. Maybe it was my kindergarten teacher who first taught me how to write, or my dad who first taught me how to play soccer. But I do know that it’s not my fault. I never chose to be left handed. It just happened. So I don’t know why I am being punished for it.

I’m sick and tired of all the misconceptions people have of us left-handers. Dictionary.com says that we are “awkward, clumsy, dubious, insincere and sinister,” which is both unfair and incorrect.

Sure, I may fall and chip my tooth at the zoo, but I’m not clumsy because I’m left handed. And I’ll admit that I pull pranks on my friends and tell the occasional lie, but I would be just as sinister if I used my right hand.

There’s also the whole hypothesis that left handed people will, on average, die 9 years earlier than right handed people. I have a hard time believing that just because I brush my teeth with my left hand means I am more likely to be in a fatal car crash or have a heart attack. Good try, society, making us lefties feel even more excluded and unwanted.

Go ahead and keep making up excuses why you’re better than me because you’re right handed. I hope you are really satisfied with being a judgemental and stereotypical person. Just realize that you are not always right.

Don’t judge my character because of the hand I use to write with. Don’t treat me any differently because I kick a soccer ball with my left foot or eat cereal with my left hand.

I’m not saying I want special privileges, but I am sick of all the inconveniences.

Left Handed Facts

• Make up between 5% and 10% of the population (depending on who you ask)
• More likely to have allergies
• More prone to migraines
• More likely to be insomniacs
• Use the right side of the brain the most
• Three times more likely to become alcoholics – the right side of the brain has a lower tolerance to alcohol!
• More likely to be on extreme poles of the intelligence scale
• Tend to reach puberty 4 to 5 months later than right handers
• More likely to suffer stuttering and dyslexia
• Twice as likely to be a man
• Better at 3D perception and thinking
• Better at multi-tasking
• Live on average 9 years less than right handed people
• More likely to be homosexual
• Make especially good baseball players, tennis players, swimmers, boxers and fencers (almost 40% of the top tennis players are lefties)
• Celebrate left handed day once a year – August 13th
• Draw figures facing to the right
• Recover from strokes faster
• More likely to pursue creative careers
• Of the seven most recent U.S Presidents, 4 have been left handed
• Left handed college graduates go on to become 26% richer than right handed graduates
• On a QWERTY keyboard there are 1447 English words typed solely with the left hand, while only 187 are typed with the right hand.
• Adjust to seeing underwater quicker
• Less able to roll their tongue than a righty
• Nails grow faster on the left hand than the right (fingerpicking advantage anyone?)

source: www.leftyfretz.com