# Leftie Poll: What sorts of For-Lefties items would baffle you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338 "2002-09-23T20:43:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/21 "2002-09-24T14:02:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lorenzo \* > \*\*Any left hander who has ever worked fast food for any length of time has learned the joy of scooping fries with a right handed fry scoop. > \*\* I dealt with this situation once when I was in fast food, though my situation was the opposite. As a rightie, there are very few things I can do at all with my left hand. We had a right-handed fry scoop and a left-handed scoop. One day the right-handed scoop turned up missing and was believed to have been dropped into the trash accidentally. In any case, all we had was the left-handed scoop. After about ten minutes of fighting with it, trying to get fries into the cartons they are served in and getting customers mad because they had to wait longer to get their orders because of this, we resorted to using tongs to put the fries in the containers. We didn’t have any lefties on staff that day to handle the fries until someone left to get a right-handed scoop from another store. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/22 "2002-09-24T14:45:37Z")
In grade school, we had right & left hand scissors. The only diference I saw was the left had a green rubber grip, while the right didn’t. I always used the left (in my right hand) because it was more comfortable. Semi-interesting story: My mother swears I was left handed at birth…I used my left hand for everything. However my grandmother (who watched me during the day) thought lefties were wrong, and “trained” me to use my right hand. As a result, my handwriting is horrible, I could never throw a ball with much accuracy, and I can’t get my golf score below 110. When I was playing little league baseball, my batting average was .045 (if that). One day I said “screw it”, went up to the plate and took a leftie stance. The coach screamed like hell…I hit a double. Thinking it was luck, I went up as a leftie the next at bat, and hit another double. (This from a kid who thought a foul tip was a small miracle) My batting average for that season ended up at just under .800. ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/23 "2002-09-24T16:04:36Z")
Southpaw here! Scissors, no. Golf clubs, no. Mouse, no. Keypad, no. Spiral notebook, maddening. Measuring cup, why yes come to think of it, lets give that a try. Wears watch on right wrist. \ ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/24 "2002-09-24T16:10:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ferrous \* > \*\*But seriously, how can a knife be right-handed? \*\* As others have said, knives are typically beveled on the right side of the blade. When you use the knife with your right hand the direction of the force you exert makes the knife cut straight down. If you use it with your left hand the direction of the pressure is wrong and the knife twists and you make a diagonal cut. This isn’t such a problem with something thin like carrots. but if you’re cutting, say, bread for toast the bottom of the slice is much thinner than the top and you have to choose between having the bottom of your toast burned or the top untoasted. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/25 "2002-09-24T16:26:25Z")
hmm…thanks for explaining about the knives and the cuts…I’m right-handed but use the knife with my left hand… ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/26 "2002-09-24T16:32:20Z")
hmm…thanks for explaining about the knives and the cuts…I’m right-handed but use the knife with my left hand… ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/27 "2002-09-24T23:19:15Z")
Acutally, there isn’t much in the way of ‘lefty’ products that would baffle me: somewhere there will always be someone who thinks it’s a great idea, even if I don’t see much of a point. (I wear my watch on the left wrist, for instance.) I would be concerned though, with left-handed knives: I would think you’d want to avoid mixing those up with a right-handed one… the results of expecting one to act like the other could be messy. :eek: * * * \<\< Windows: just another pane in the glass. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![sirtonyh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@sirtonyh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirtonyh)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/28 "2002-09-25T11:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plain\_jane \* > \*\*If it requires precision (like writing or drawing, even applying makeup) I use my left hand, but for everything else, I just use my right hand. Even for a computer mouse, although I can use it just as well with my left. > \*\* Another lefty here. I just cannot get the hang of using a mouse with my left hand. I’ve tried several times and absolutely cannot figure out how to do it. I don’t use anything specifically designed for lefties but I have sent apprentices to the storeroom to get me a left handed screwdriver a few times (along with striped paint and a couple of other things) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/29 "2002-09-25T14:11:28Z")
My wife prefers to use fingernail scissors rather than clippers. The place she buys them at stocks equipment for manicurists. Every once in a while she buys a pair of right-handed scissors and then gripes about how she can’t figure out why her right-hand fingernails end up all chewed-looking… ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/30 "2002-09-25T15:01:29Z")
Lefty here - I use the mouse with my left hand at work and with my right hand at home, since the home computer is also used by a rightie. Using the left hand is much more comfortable. I use scissors wiith my right hand, and cannot cut worth a damn with left-handed scissors. I throw, bat, write and eat left-handed. But I throw a Frisbee with my right hand. I also hold a ping pong paddle in my right hand. 😕 I play golf with right-handed (I learned with right-handed clubs) and using left-handed clubs feels just plain weird. I play the guitar right-handed. Since my left eye is dominant, I use a left-handed shotgun (ejects shells on the left side, shoulder it on the left). Any lefty shooters out there? Ever seen a left-handed rifle? I haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![MindWanderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@MindWanderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindWanderer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/31 "2002-09-25T15:24:13Z")
Heh. Left-handed guns. I’m left handed and my dad used to own a gun shop and was lots into guns (he lives in Michigan) so I went through Gun training school. The last day we had to try using several different kinds at the gun club and they wanted me to use a Musket rifle (or something like that, haven’t touched a gun since) Well that musket is REALLY designed for right handers, it was hard to use at all being left-handed, and my left hand got scorched from that gun because of how I held it. (A long streak up my left hand. Must have been the powder.) Wasn’t very pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![MindWanderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@MindWanderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindWanderer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/32 "2002-09-25T15:36:34Z")
My dad is a gun fan and he always wanted to teach me when I was younger. When I was 12 I did a gun training class (probably NRA sponsored, this was Michigan after all), and on the last day they had us using different guns. Well I am left handed and they wanted me to try this Musket rifle (i think it was that, some sort of musket) Well the musket rifle is definitely right handed and a streak of something went up my hand and scorched it (had a long streak of a scar for quite a while) when I fired the gun. Scared the bejesus out of me. So I can see why you’d want the left-handed gun for that. I haven’t touched guns since I was 13 so I barely know anything about them. But the people who wanted me to use that right-handed musket for the training program were pretty inane. I avoid guns like the plague, even back when my dad was teaching me I was nervous about them. ---
**Author:** ![ratzingersreactionary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@ratzingersreactionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratzingersreactionary)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/33 "2002-09-25T16:58:24Z")
I’m a lefty. I have the same problem with my handgun. I’m always getting hot brass burns. I use a lefty- spiral notebook, and not much else. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/34 "2002-09-25T17:06:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Narrad \* > \*\* > > I don’t use any left-handed items, even scissors (I just turn them upside down). My mouse is the normal version but I move it to the left side of the keyboard. > > **RTFirefly’s** lefty keyboard sounds interesting though. I’ve been trained to use the number pad with my right hand so I guess I’d have to adjust again if I got one. > > One interesting area where I expectedly encountered a LH/RH difference is in splicing ropes (for sailing). As a left-hander, I have to check myself and reverse the natural direction in which I twist rope. Rope is twisted in a certain direction when it is manufactured, which of course doesn’t suit cackhanders. \*\* “Cackhanders?” Never heard that one before. I like it. What’s the origin? As to scissors, I take it you’re talking about the ones with molded handles and differently shaped blades? Because otherwise, turning them upside down wouldn’t make any difference. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/35 "2002-09-25T18:30:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chula \* > \*\*When I hear “lefties” I think politics, so I was wondering what this thread was referring to exactly. I’m a lefty on both counts. I’ve adapted to all the right-handed products, though I can’t get used to George W. controlling this country. \*\* Really?? That’s the first thing that came to mind? I’ve heard the term “leftist” for a liberal, but never leftie. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/36 "2002-09-25T21:21:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MisterThyristor \* > **One of my pet peeves is when ladles don’t have a lip on both sides.** :eek: I initially read “ladles” as “ladies.” _That_ sure would have been a new twist to the left-handedness issue. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2002, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/37 "2002-09-26T06:15:49Z")
When we took the PSAT in high school (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, for the college bound), we were in a room that had only right-handed desks. After a few miserable minutes trying to write the essay portion with my left arm floating in the air, I raised my hand and whispered my problem to the proctor. He looked around and saw that no left-handed desks were available, thought a moment, and then led me to the broad table on a podium at the front of the room where he sat, and let me finish the exam seated by him. That would have been OK, but I overhead one classmate whisper, “Why is he sitting up there?” and another reply, “He must have been cheating.” ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/38 "2002-09-27T02:29:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by photopat \* > **"Cackhanders?" Never heard that one before. I like it. What’s the origin?** :o “Cack” means poop. “Cackhanders” is used to describe lefthanders because the left hand is associated with wiping your bottom. The word is now used to mean clumsy or gauche. ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/39 "2002-09-27T10:43:57Z")
I am a right handed person, and I have always had trouble using my measureing cup. I just reasized, It’ a lefty !!! ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338/40 "2002-09-27T10:44:24Z")
I am a right handed person, and I have always had trouble using my measureing cup. I just reasized, It’s a lefty !!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftie-poll-what-sorts-of-for-lefties-items-would-baffle-you/129338.md?page=1)