I think this best belongs in GQ. And I shall make the appropriate mouse clicks with my left–no, right hand.
[QUOTE=roger thornhill]
Is this a dietary thing? Places where beans are the staple, rather than say rice, pose more of a sticky problem? Surely, the alternative reading, that in which ‘different areas’ is understood as referring to different areas of teh body, can be ruled out? I take it you’re not talking about emergency colostomies performed by unlicensed doctors.
[/QUOTE]
Another thing, in India, while most people have utensils and frequently use them, a lot of people use primarily their hands instead, whether they’re using flatbread (naan, chapatis, rotis, etc.) to scoop up their food or bare hands. My husband, who is from the south of India, rarely ever uses utensils when eating Indian food (for that matter, I don’t often, either). We could use utensils, but the food tastes sooooo damn good with the naan or chapatis if you make it just right. Not to mention, you get to eat your utensil, so there’s less to wash.
Anyway, the way it was explained it to me is that one often uses primarily his or her left to wipe and clean, depending on the facilities available, and his or her right to eat because using the left one to eat when you frequently use directly on your butt and other areas to wipe is just gross. If we’re visiting India and no TP is available, you often squat and pour with your right hand and wipe with your left then wash your hands very carefully after. So when you eat or shake with your left hand, you may literally be giving someone the “shit hand.”
[QUOTE=alanak]
I don’t know what India you went to, but there are a lot of fat Indians.
[/QUOTE]
Lots of rubenesque Indians, for sure- indeed the papers are full of stories about their obesity crisis. But not a lot of people who are obese to the point that they can’t perform everyday tasks and have lost a large range of motion. It would only take five minutes in front of an American mall to meet someone who is physically incapable fo squatting. It wouldn’t be that unusual to meet a kid who was too out-of-shape and/or overweight to squat.
We’ve even invented special toilets for people too big to use the ones we have. There is some strong motivation not to get to that point in India (and indeed throughout most of the world) and much fewer people do.
A related factor is that most of the fat Indians are financially pretty well-to-do. If they want some Western-style furnishings in their home, such as throne toilets, they can generally afford them. The poorer people who have no alternatives to the traditional squat-and-pour style of excretory hygiene are very, very unlikely to be fat.
And yeah, as a Westerner who’s lived a couple years in India off and on, I can attest that the squat-and-pour business does take some getting used to, but is quite easy and effective once you’ve got the hang of it. (You end up a little more damp than when using toilet paper, but it’s not really a problem, especially if your personal grooming style includes keeping the lawn mowed pretty short if you know what I mean, which is a good idea in a hot damp climate such as India’s anyway, particularly for women.) And as a right-hander, it does seem very natural to me to hold the little water pitcher with my right hand and use my left to actually do the washing.
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog]
As for the OP, I’m left handed, but I try to hand over money with my right hand when I’m in an Indian or Middle Eastern shop.
[/QUOTE]
Eureka! At last.
The origin of “Filthy Lucre.”
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog]
As for the OP, I’m left handed, but I try to hand over money with my right hand when I’m in an Indian or Middle Eastern shop.
[/QUOTE]
EUREKA!
At last an explanation for “Filthy Lucre.”
[QUOTE=gabriela]
I was fool enough to read many James Bond books (yes, they were books, once - anybody else remember that they were books?) in the late pre-teen and early teen years of my young life, when they got burned like Scriptures into the developing brain. It took me no effort at all to recall this sentence (although I must use K. for the name of the person speaking since apparently that segment of my brain burned out):
“Not with the left, James!” K. hissed. “These people use the left hand for only one thing!”
Bond hesitated, then continued reaching across the table with his left hand to grasp a bottle of wine…
[/QUOTE]
I am so old that I remember the film ‘From Russia with love’ coming out. :eek:
Soon after the incident you describe, there was a catfight, which made quite an impression on me. 
But not as much as the chess game at the start, which was based on the actual game between …
[QUOTE=Chronos]
Cecil is prescient, and knew you would ask this.
[/QUOTE]
Great minds think alike.
Incredible to think I’m up there with all the mods, Scientific whatnots such as yourself, and Ed Zotti himself.
Ed, I’m away for a few days, so don’t be pissed if I don’t respond to your call immediately.
Come on down, Cecil, mate, and say hi to one of your great fans. Don’t be shy now. Or are you still smarting from the mauling Sentient Meat gave you over global warming? Don’t be sensitive. The world’s smartest human being will always struggle when he’s up against Wales’s smartest.
[QUOTE=dre2xl]
Ah, interesting…
On a slightly related tangent, just how do Indians perceive Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?
[/QUOTE]
Many Indians I have talked to resent the movie. One person told me, “It is an insult to all Indians.”
[QUOTE=acsenray]
Many Indians I have talked to resent the movie. One person told me, “It is an insult to all Indians.”
[/QUOTE]
That’s how I as an Englishman feel about Braveheart. And don’t get me started on Die Hard…
[QUOTE=overlyverbose]
So when you eat or shake with your left hand, you may literally be giving someone the “shit hand.”
[/QUOTE]
I have heard the same is true for moslems though may be wrong.
However I wonder they would feel if they knew that most europeans use their right hands for wiping - would they be disgusted, especially if I offered my right hand for a handshake?