Happy Left-Handers’ Day! Local Residents Celebrate Being Born A Lefty

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NORTHEAST Miss. (WCBI)- The world just isn’t right for a lefty. Throughout our lives, we’ve had to write on right-handed desk and have our elbows collide with our classmates or dinner companions.

Jeff Turnage is an attorney in Columbus He’s also a lefty and remembers the trials growing up using the “wrong hand.”

“Everything, when you think about it, is designed for right handed people. The desks were small, you had to squeeze in there. It’s a little bitty table top and it’s on your right side. So a right-handers can put their elbow down and rest their arm comfortably whereas a left-hander had to reach across and struggle to right on the little table,” said Turnage.

Not to mention trying to insert paper into 3 ring binders. The majority of things we use today are made for right-handed people. Left-handers only make up 10% of the population. In the not so distant past, being a lefty was considered taboo.

“How many times have we heard in the past generation or even ours, people trying to change a child’s handedness,” said Dr. Angela Farmer, Director of Educational Leadership at Mississippi University for Women.

Dr. Farmer believes the world has come a long way, and it’s important for educators to accommodate left-handed students.

“Where you sit them, typically they will interact with students on their left so that left wall is a bad place for them to be, whereas students that are right handed are more likely to interact or have socialization to students on their right,” said Dr. Farmer.

There is one place where lefties reign supreme: the baseball diamond. MSU’s Associate Head Baseball Coach, Butch Thompson is a southpaw. In fact, 3 other coaches on the team are lefties too.

“You know, once you get outside of trying to use a skill saw or fountain pin or a 3 ring binder, it really helps you go further in the game. 33% of major league baseball pitchers are left handed, so, there’s more of a chance to reach the big leagues as a left-hander than being able to do anything else. Usually if you’re on a pitching staff or about 12 or 14 pitchers, there would be only about 2 or 3 of you. So you would have more opportunities because there’s not as many of you,” said Thompson.

So in celebration of left-handers’ say, all the lefties have this message:

“I’m sorry that they’re not left-handed,” said Dr. Farmer.

“I like being left-handed. Wouldn’t change it. Too bad the right-handers can’t try it,” said Turnage.

Studies also show lefties are more likely to excel at language, math and music. The last 5 presidents have also been lefties. Left handers also tend to be more creative.