No Lefties Left Behind

05 August 2015 | Updated 01 January 1970

Left-Handers’ Day takes place on 13 August of every year and it offers the chance for left-handers everywhere to celebrate their talents.

Promoted by the Left-Handers Club which has been in existence since the 1990s, the day is there to show that although a minority of 10% of the population, lefties more than make up for it in talent.

The club argues that lefties have more brain symmetry than righties and better communication between the two sides of the brain, making them faster at adapting to changing surrounding and circumstances.

In its publicity, the Left-Handed Club mentions a number of US Presidents, some of them perhaps not striking examples of superior intellectual powers. Of Gerald Ford, President after Richard Nixon, it was said that he could not walk and chew gum at the same time. Nevertheless, five of the last seven presidents have been left-handed, including the current one, Barack Obama. Other notable lefties have included Aristotle and Leonardo Da Vinci, Jimmy Hendrix and Oprah Winfrey.

Left-handers can show their solidarity with a new range of T-shirts and accessories that proudly declare their handedness. Specialist retailer Anything Left-Handed has launched the new range of online merchandise taken from designs and suggestions by the 100,000 plus members of the Left-Handers Club, to celebrate the advantage left-handers feel at being part of this elite minority.

Many lefties go to greater lengths, creating Lefty Zones in homes, clubs and workplace, where everyone has to use their left hand for everyday activities. Others provide a Left-Handers Essential Pack for the right-handers in their lives to use on the day, showing the majority what it is like to have to adapt to household tools that are not designed for them to use.

For further information, visit the website: www.lefthandersday.com

Picture: Left-Handers’ Day is an international event to celebrate the activities of a group that make up 10% of the population.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis | Published 05 August 2015