LET'S HEAR IT FOR LEFTIES!!

August 13th is "Left-Handers Day" which for some of you many mean nothing. But for a left-handed person, it's cause for celebration. Odd how this was not always so. My handedness was established long before I walked into Kindergarten rarin' to learn. Yep - a left-handed trait. (Not the walking - the rarin' to learn!)

According to http://www.lefthandersday.com/, there tends to be more intellectual thinkers among us. Need I mention da Vinci, Einstein, Mark Twain? Although many of us could never cut a straight line, we have found our ways into baseball, fencing, art, music, writing, and other endeavors where line equals form and a scissor in hand equals inconsequential. Check out the Handedness Research Institute for more information (handedness.org).

Southpaws have met teachers who didn't understand our outer awkwardness. Going to school in the 50s, one zealous teacher tied my left hand to the chair to turn me into a righty. Back then, seven-year-olds didn't argue with the good Sister. Well, this little girl couldn't function. 3 was E, d was b, and every other letter or number was written backwards. The words on a page floated and my fast-paced brain shut down. By the end of the week, I walked home in tears, fully believing I was stupid. (we could use that word back then)

Monday morning, Mom (a righty) marched me into school and had "a few" words with the principal. My hand was never tied again, but the damage was done. I hold my writing paper in such a way that no one can pull it away from me. And my script looks right-handed. To this day when I get nervous, I have to consciously think which way left or right is. For those of you with little lefties, the trick is that you make and L with your left hand - trust me, it works during times of stress.

I won't go into eating at the dinner table or even setting it for that matter. My family understands. Left turns are 'this way' and right turns are 'that way' so just deal with it!

However, I wouldn't give up the creative, skewed way of seeing things to be in the majority. Not for anything! Good teachers love lefties because they see the world differently and think through problems with a totally refreshing edge.

Many years ago, when my son entered Kindergarten, I was prepared. The left-handed child looked like a klutz, but ah, his mind was steps ahead of the others. Very concerned, his teacher called me. He couldn't hold a scissor, couldn't cut a straight line or form his letters correctly. Not as feisty as my mother, I said "Give him time." The teacher was out for a week, and her substitute pulled me aside with a bright smile on her face. It seems my son's jumbled scribbles had to be held up to a mirror to read. He had deciphered "da Vinci's code" and made it his own at the tender age of five. To this day, his writing is chicken-scratch, but his fascinating sonnets (you read it correctly) have to be held up to a mirror to read - it's just a natural talent.

Why be different? What makes us this way? There are many books that disect the left-handed personality. Yes, we hear a different drummer! I read music before I could read, my left hand on the piano is much faster than my right, I'm a wiz at cryptograms and Scrabble, and 1000 piece puzzles are done in a day.

Research indicates that a lefty is forced to develop both sides of the brain. Many survive and come back from strokes. Howard Gardiner's "Multiple Intelligence Theory" also hailed the left-hander's brain. Wiggins' "Backwards Design Theory" is a lefty manifesto! And yet, some research indicates that left-handed children are the result of brain damage during birthing, to which I say, "I beg your pardon?!!"

But lefties have more freak accidents with tools and while driving cars. Looking right before I crossed streets in London almost got me killed. I don't want to get into how hard it is for me to peel a potato - you'd laugh like hell.

As a teacher, it's a blessing. I think differently, which engages students to encourage deeper thinking. Lefties make fabulous educators because we understand the oppression of "like-mind" mentality, and usually get a bit rebellious. I believe it was a lefty who thought up the creative classroom.

If you love a lefty, kiss them on the left cheek for once, and sit across from them at the dinner table. Don't trust them with a handsaw unless you have good insurance. Above all, celebrate our difference. I'd take deep thinking over a straight line any day. Ooops. Another lefty trait!!

Please share your thoughts. Do you love a lefty? Did you raise a leftie? Are you a "chosen" one? Leave a comment because I love a good discussion. ~ Mickey