When my son was six months or so, his mum offered him a biscuit. He reached out with his left hand, something I immediately spotted. Over the next few months it became clear that he was left-handed. Why did I spot this? Because I should have been left-handed.
I was about four years old and in primary school when a teacher yanked the pencil out of my left hand, stuck it in my right hand and told me: “you don’t write with your left hand.” It was traumatic enough for me to remember it over 50 years later. Usually such early memories are of a painful physical nature – and I have a number of those – but I remember it as if it happened yesterday. And the damage done by this single action has been enormous.
Why was being left-handed frowned upon years ago? Historically, the left side, and subsequently left-handedness, was considered negative in many cultures. The Latin word sinistra originally meant ‘left’ but took on meanings of ‘evil’ or ‘unlucky’ by the Classical Latin era, and this double meaning survives in European derivatives of Latin, and in the English word sinister. Meanings gradually developed from use of these terms in the ancient languages. In many modern European languages, including English, the word for the direction ‘right’ also means ‘correct’ or ‘proper’, and also stands for authority and justice.
I do not understand the concept of right and left. When designing, a common cry in the office used to be: “move the picture to the right – no, the other right.” At a t-junction, it’s a 50:50 call – satnavs have been a godsend as I can quickly cast a glance at the changing map.
If I sit and concentrate I sometimes get it but more often than not I don’t. Take the example of when I did my motorbike test in the mid-90s. The examiner rode on a motorbike behind me, giving me instructions via an earpiece I wore. This was hell for me. At one point he said: “take the next left”. I moved to the middle of the road and looked for the ‘left’ – the other left in my case. After five minutes or so, he told me to “pull into the petrol station ON THE LEFT.” I looked and looked and then as my eyes glanced across the road I realised my mistake. We pulled in and he left me to calm down for a few minutes. My error meant I spent over an hour and a quarter on the road instead of 45 minutes. When we got back to the testing station, he asked me all the standard Highway Code questions and then said:
Well I’m pleased to tell you that you’ve passed but I have one question for you.
What’s that? I asked.
What the f**k were you doing when I told you to turn left??
Apparently the reason I passed was because I did all the correct manoeuvres for a right-hand turn. I should have been prepared for this – I did the same thing in my mock motorbike test. And my car test. And my mock car test too!
This has also adversely affected me as a maths teacher. When teaching negative numbers, most teachers use a horizontal number line with the negative sign being used as a direction along this line. For me this is purgatory! I adopt the other approach of using a vertical number line and comparing the direction of negative numbers with a lift going up and down. Even if I could understand left and right I’d probably still use this approach because pupils tend to ‘get it’ better – but I wouldn’t have used it at all without my problem.
What exacerbates the situation is that I’m left eye dominant (as are most left-handed people) so I naturally aim with my left eye. It used to be fun trying to play snooker: I had to put my chin over the cue to be able to sight with my left eye. Karate was fun too as was dancing many years ago. How difficult can it be to put your left foot forwards? In my case, very! And as for my handwriting… The only advantage here is that I can read anyone else’s no matter how illegible!
Is it a disability? Not really but it has hindered me in a number of ways. The first time I picked up a guitar (aged 12 or so), the salesman pulled it out of my hands, turned it round and said “you play guitar this way round.” Who knows – I could have been the next Jimi Hendrix!