Being left-handed has its ups and downs. Sometimes you get cool mentions, like Sylvester Stallone being a southpaw in those movies about boxing, you know the ones. (No, not Bloodsport. That’s Jean-Claude Van Dame and that was about ultimate fighting. I think. Truth be told, the only part of that movie I remember is that Jean-Claude Van Damme was in it and there were a few karate fights.) The other nice thing, of course, is the ability to confuse pitchers in baseball, especially if you learn to switch-hit. The downsides are plenty, it’s for sure not all sunshine and rainbows, no sir. Sometimes you have to deal with right-handed scissors and you die a bit inside when a five year old can cut a straight line easier than you. And don’t get me started on notebooks. I’m sure it’s possible to write left-handed without smearing everything, but good luck figuring it out.
But on the bright side, with the new left handed opener series arriving soon, I’ll at least have a knife that works out great for me! In honor of this awesome new series I’m totally not biased about, I figured now was the right time (or left time, am I right?) to show off a few facts for my brothers and sisters that are just a little off of the norm. For example, did you know…?
- About 30 million people in the United States are left-handed
- Left in English originated from the Angelo-Saxon lyft, meaning weak or broken
- The Eskimos consider left-handed people to be potential sorcerers. Likewise in Morocco the left-handed are considered cursed
- Ambidextrous means ‘right-handed on both sides’
- Finally some good news: Incas thought left-handers were capable of healing and possessed magical powers
- August 13th is left-handers day
- Mothers over 40 are 128% more likely to have a left handed baby than a woman in her 20’s
- There are more left-handed people with an IQ over 140 than there are right-handed
- Left-handed people tend to draw figures facing to the right, rather than the left
- One-in-four Apollo astronauts were left-handed
- Some notable southpaws include: Henry Ford, Babe Ruth, “Buzz” Aldrin, Leonardo Da Vinci, Jack the Ripper, Jimi Hendrix and Mark Twain