Friday, October 06, 2006

These are my scissors.
We have right handed sewing scissors.
We have right handed barber scissors.
We have right handed craft scissors.
We have right handed kitchen scissors.
We have right handed cuticle scissors.
I have ONE (1) pair of left handed scissors.
I am the only left handed member of my family.

Most scissors are best suited to use with the right hand, but left handed
scissors are designed for use by the left. Left handed scissors obviously have
handles which are comfortable to hold in the left hand, but they have other
differences, more subtle yet equally important. Because scissors have
overlapping blades, they are not symmetric. This asymmetry is true regardless of
the orientation and the shape of the handles: the blade that is on top always
forms the same diagonal regardless of orientation. Human hands are also
asymmetric and worse, when closing the thumb and fingers do not close
vertically, but have a lateral component to the motion. Specifically, the thumb
pushes out and fingers pull inwards. For right-handed scissors held in the right
hand, the thumb blade is closer to the body so that the natural tendency of the
right hand is to force the cutting blades together. Conversely, if right-handed
scissors are held in the left hand, the natural tendency of the left hand would
be to force the cutting blades laterally apart. Furthermore, with right-handed
scissors held by the right-hand, the shearing edge is visible. When used with
the left hand, the cutting edge of the scissors would be behind the top blade,
and one cannot see what is being cut. Using scissors designed for the wrong hand
is very difficult for most people. They have to unnaturally force the blades
together to cut and stretch their necks over the top blade to see what is being
cut. This unnatural motion can also cause marks on the hand, sores, and
eventually calluses.

So you see, being the giver that I am,
I am just trying to prevent them from getting marks, sores, and calluses.
I just wish THEY would return the favor, and my scissors
.
This is just one more small challenge I face as a lefty in a right handed world.
From being accused of being satan worshippers specifically, and being sinister in general, to being used as a description of clumsy, immoral, or sloppy we southpaws have NOT ever had it easy.
Now, it is true that these days we can buy a watch, a computer mouse, a corkscrew, or a pair of scissors designed just for the left handed individual, if we're willing to look high and how for them and pay twice as much.
Anyway, I will desist with this closing quote.
Reason is our soul's left hand; faith her right. By these we reach divinity,
John Donne, to the Countess of Bedford


8 comments:

S said...

Hallelujah! Praise the left handed scissors!

I JUST WANNA YELL I AM LEFT HANDED TOO AND STAY AWAY FROM OUR LEFTY STUFF U HEAR, THINGS?

Nessa said...

I always wanted to be a lefty because I was always told they are special (not in the short bus way): more creative.

Kyahgirl said...

I just learned to do everything right handed, except write. maybe I'm a pushover ?

I was in a meeting the other day where 4 of the 5 people were lefty's Logo. We will prevail!!

Sar said...

Just so I'm clear, the don't run with scissor rule is equally applicable in a left-handed world, right? Er left?

Anonymous said...

where's Ned Flanders' Leftorium when you need it? xox

Anonymous said...

Psst, ya dont need Ned when yas got me, Left LaRue...

Anybody need a pair of left handed scissors? I got em offa Jimmy Hoffa. Dats right, didnt cha know, Jimmy was a lefty too, like me n you.....

Logophile said...

Cindra~ I feel her pain! Your music choices were great fun, I am glad you did that tag, thanks for playing along, and thanks for the link. I only open my template about every other month, if that. I hate fiddling with it. You go, girl!

YOU TELL 'EM, SUSIE!

Nessa~ You manage to be pretty creative as it is! And some of us ARE "special" in the short bus way
:P

Kyahgirl~ 4 of 5, that are some good odds right there! Wow, you know, my cousin manages to do alot of things right handed even though she is a leftie. I am SO left dominant though, I have really hard time doing that. When I broke my left thumb as a teenager and was in a cast just exactly HOW left dominant I was became very clear to me.

Sar~ Maaaan, why you wanna come in here all quoting rules? Sheesh, go with the flow, maybe you need to just dance with your scissors, be one with them. Don't feel so threatened, the scissors don't want to hurt you, can't we all just get along?

Seamus~ Maybe there were not enough of you for a representative sample, so you lacked the necessary components for divinity, or maybe Donne was just delusional.

Neva~ I am pretty sure the Springfield Mall is too far away, but he had a good idea!

Lefty~ If you bring the man down on me for selling hot merch on my blog, you are SO gonna get it!

Anonymous said...

If ya want da hot merch, ya gonna have ta meet down at the foot a duh bridge....
Not sold here, no way.....