Raise your hand if you are left-handed. Okay do not actually raise your hand or you might be mistaken for one of those, unique, individuals. I am left-handed and I’m very proud of that fact. Let’s not sugar coat anything, being a lefty is a struggle. For all of those righties who have not realized the entire world is made for right-handers, here’s a short list of right hand items: spirals, binders, door knobs, car controls, keyboards, pencils, dry erase makers and boards, scissors, and basically anything you use all the time, especially, ballpoint pens.

Did you know that ballpoint pens were actually designed specifically for righties? Left hands pull down on pens instead of pull, which causes the ink to come out sporadically. I’ve never met a ballpoint pen that I can write with.

Lefties die sooner than the rest of the world, probably because the world is made for the other hand. Just think about it for a second, what isn’t on the right side? Nothing. I have a challenge for all the righties; spend an entire day or maybe even an hour using primarily your left hand. You’ll quickly find, that opening doors causes a ridiculous arm twist, writing will leave lovely stains on the sides of your hand, and using a dry erase board isn’t even a comfortable possibility.

When I was a little kid, my mom actually had to have our family friend teach me to write and tie my shoes. Apparently, we write letters backwards. Specifically, the letter “x” and “s”. Lucky for me, I have learned to do a lot with my right hand. In most sports I’m right-handed. But then again, I don’t sports.

But, we can’t stay all negative; being left-handed is awesome. To most of the world lefties are like exotic animals, whenever someone discovers I’m a lefty they demand to know every detail of my life. “How do you write like that? How do you hold your pencil?”. The best response was “Oh my gosh, how do you tie your shoes?” There are also left-handed scholarships. And in case anyone didn’t know, we tie our shoes normally, we just do it backwards.