Aloha Everyone,
On August 13th, our daughter-in-law reminded us that it was International Left Hand Day! She was born left handed into a family whose father and grandfather were also left handed. However, her father and grandfather were forced to shift to right hand as that was then the “generational“ thing to do. Our daughter-in-law was spared from the tradition and is very comfortable with her left handedness.
J.J. was also born left handed but he was “corrected” at school. While J.J. complied with his school’s demand, he wisely kept up with his left hand usage. Thus he became ambidextrous. Rather rare talent as only 1% of the world population is said to be ambidextrous. J.J. writes with his right hand but plays table tennis with his left hand. He also cuts and eats with his left hand and tends to carry things on his left side.
Historically, left handed people were considered bad omen or bad luck. I guess that is why the forced conversion to right handedness. The word sinister traces its root to the Latin word for left.
It is interesting to note that many famous people are left handed including presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Gerald Ford.
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Aloha -- Cathi
