“The right half of the brain controls the left half of the
body. This means that only left handed people are in their right mind”
~Anonymous
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| Lauren and Keith Milsom |
Lefthanders have rights! Yeah! They do…and most especially
today because, it’s lefthanders day! Happy Lefthanders day to every left hander
on earth :)
Although as a child I really didn’t think they were special,
on the contrary I even felt they were disabled (hehe). Maybe it’s due to the
number of times I was corrected—mostly with a cane—by my parents for using my
left hand to eat, write, or collect/give things to my elders. But I think my
view about left-handedness has changed a great deal since then.
My guest on the stroll today is a leftie who is doing so
much for other lefties in the world. He’s the founder of the Lefthanders day,
and he also runs ‘Anything Left-handed’; a shop that sells only left-handed
things! Awesome right? (heheh)
In course of our stroll he told me about the challenges a
lefthander faces in a right-handed world, about what motivated him to found the
Lefthanders day, and if he thinks being left-handed is a blessing or a curse…well,
here we go:
Ebenezar: Thank you so much for having this stroll with me Mr. Keith,
it's really a pleasure.
Keith: You’re welcome Ebenezar, great talking with you.
Ebenezar: Are you a leftie? And what inspired you to start
the lefthanders?
Keith: Yes, of course, and so are my wife and son. I
started it 30 years ago with my father, also a lefthander, as we could not
find any good places to get a hold of left-handed products and there was no
information available on helping left-handed children.
 |
| Image credit: AYankeeWoman |
Ebenezar: What do you intend to achieve by having this day on the international
observance?
Keith: Celebrate the advantages of being left-handed and
raise awareness among right-handers of some of the frustrations us lefthanders
face ina world designed largely by and for right-handed people. (More here)
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| Image Credit: lefthandersday.com |
Ebenezar: Okay, I know you're not a medical doctor. But is there any medical explanation
as to why some people are left-handed and others are right-handed?
Keith: It does seem to be genetic in some way but not like
eye colour which is completely predictable based on parents and
grandparents. The "left-handed gene" seems to work in
combination with other factors but is does run in families and the chances of
two left-handed parents having a left-handed child are hugely higher than for
two right-handed parents.(More here)
Ebenezar: When I was a child, my mum and grandma scolded me whenever I did stuffs
with my left hand, and that forced me to change to my right hand over time.
In some cultures they feel doing things with your left hand is a taboo... So
how do we draw the line between culture and nature?
Ebenezar: I know it's not really easy for a left hander to survive in a world designed
majorly for right-handers, but what do you think can be done to balance this? How can
the world change to accommodate lefthanders?
Keith: I think raising awareness that there ARE left-handed
versions of most things available and that a lot of the problems left-handers
face are purely down to using the wrong equipment. This is particularly
true for children; where a few minor changes to the way they are taught to
write, and do other basic activities can make a huge difference
Ebenezar: What makes 'Anything Left-handed' different from
the regular grocery store on the street?
Keith: Everything we sell is left-handed!
Ebenezar: Hahaha! Whao! I'd love to visit there one of these days. Is ‘Anything Left-handed’ the only one of its kind
in the world? Don't you think we need more of this? Have you thought of
franchising?
Keith: There are other small shops and local businesses, but
Anything Left Handed is the oldest and largest in the world. We have
tried to spread it, but unfortunately it is not really a viable business
financially and for us it has been more a labour of love over many years that
we have supported financially from other things we do.
Ebenezar:
Will you consider being left-handed a blessing or a curse? Because I'm left-footed,
and I can remember back in high school many people were scared of me on the field
because, I could do a lot of ball tricks with my left foot. So it was like a
plus to me... Does this apply to lefthanders too?
Keith: Generally a blessing and I think we really do have
advantages in the way we think and create as well as advantages in a lot of
sports and physical activities.
More on advantages of being Left-handed here
That is balanced partly by the frustrations of having to use
right-handed equipment sometimes, but overall I think we lefties come out on
top! (hehe)
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Ebenezar: Thank you so much for your time Mr. Keith, I wish
you good luck with ‘Anything Left-handed’, and I hope we get to stroll again
some other time.
Keith: Thank you Ebenezar.
**********************************************************************************************************
For more about Mr. Keith (@Lefthandersclub) and the lefthanders
day, you can visit this website. In case you also want to see what is in store
at ‘Anything Left-handed’, you can click here.
I’ve got a confession to make; I’m really jealous of Lefthanders
right now! (haha) My wish to become Left-handed even increased when I got know
that gifted people like; Leonardo Da Vinci, Blll Gates, Rafael Nadal, and even President
Barack Obama are left-handed.
But I’m still grateful to God the way I am though. Everybody
has a special purpose on earth and God designed our bodies, temperaments, and
talents to match that purpose! So appreciate yourself and love the way you are…
because nobody can love you like you—except Jesus that is. (hehe)
Till my next stroll… Thanks for reading, Jesus Loves You.
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