Same As Same As

Last post, I asked you what these people had in common –

Bill Clinton & George H. W. Bush

Robert Redford & Robert DeNiro

John F. Kennedy Jr. & Caroline Kennedy

Lewis Carroll and H.G. Wells

Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr

Here are some more...

What do these people have in common?

Queen Victoria & Prince Charles

It is not that both are British royalty.

David Letterman & Jay Leno

It is not that both are late night TV show hosts.

John McEnroe & Martina Navratilova

It is not that both are former World No. 1's in tennis.

Edwin Buzz Aldrin & Wally Schirra

It’s not that both are astronauts.

Pablo Picasso and Michael Angelo

It’s not that both are famous names in the art world, whose works are on display in the Louvre, MET, MOMA and the Tate.

Here’s the answer...all the people listed are left-handed.

In exploring left-handedness, I discovered these interesting facts:

•    Only 10% of people are left-handed.

•   Left-handedness is also called sinistrality, sinistromanuality,or mancinism. 

 

• Why people are born left-handed remains an awesome mystery, but there are some charming theories, one being that left-handed people were originally part of an identical twin pair in the womb, with the right-handed twin fetus failing to develop early in development. The theory called the Vanishing Twin theory arose out of the fact that among twins, frequently one is left-handed, the other right-handed.

•  Across all cultures, through history, left-handedness has been frowned upon, and left-handed people have been coerced to use their right-hand.  Even today, in many parts of the world, lefty or not, you will be forced to use your right hand for many activities, eating being one of them.

• Right-handers being in the majority, the world is of course designed for right-handed people – from machines to cooking and writing implements, from banisters to doorknobs. As a result, left-handers are more prone to injuring their hands.

• And finally, I came across these 2 interesting articles about left-handedness, one about left-handed surgeons which you can read here, and one about a research study on the handedness of octopuses, which you can read about here.

P.S. I wrote this post for the southpaws (slang for lefties) of the family – Jade, Rosie and Shreekant.  If I inadvertently left any one out, please set me right. Also, August 13 was International Left-Handers Day.  So belated Happy Left-Handers Day to all of you.

P.S. 2: The most well-known left-hander of the current times is President Obama.  Since there are so many pictures of him signing historic bills into law, including the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the repeal of  "Dont Ask, Dont Tell", and the $938 billion Health Care bill,  I decided to use President Clinton as an example of a U.S. President rather than him. FYI, President Obama used 22 pens to sign the Health Care bill on March 23, 2010.  You can read about it here.

P.S. 3:  If you want to read the most famous book on left-handedness, a book by Dr.Stanley Coren, you can link to it here. Also, if you are a left-hander and need to find an implement, instrument or tool specifically designed for left-handers like the Fiskars 94507097 pictured above, here’s a link to the Anything Left-Handed site which can help you. Note: Dr. Stanley Coren is equally famous for a series of books on the intelligence of dogs and for his books on sleep deprivation. You can read more about Dr. Coren on his website. Here's the link.

P.S. 4:  From having a left-handed sibling, I know that there are many times when left-handedness can get in the way. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, for example, tells this story which occurred when he was stationed in the Gulf during the Persian Gulf conflict of 1991. Scwarzkopf was invited to a banquet held by some Saudi Arabian tribesmen. It was a traditional communal banquet; huge plates of food were brought out and everyone had to reach out and help themselves using their hands. Since Muslims do not eat with the left hand, Schwarzkopf had the onerous task of controlling the automatic impulse to reach out for the food with his left hand. He would catch himself just in time. Eventually he had to immobilize his left hand by sitting on it. Meanwhile, his right hand motor skills being undeveloped, he kept missing his mouth when he tried to get food into it with his right hand. He says he had food all over his face, chin and clothes.  Are you a lefty with stories to tell such as this?  Do share them. We’d love to hear about them and get a laugh out of them.

P.S. 5:  This post was inspired by my daughter Tanita reading a paragraph about left-handedness to me from her AP Psychology text-book.  Tanita is taking AP Psychology this year with Mr. Curry who has been teaching AP Psychology at Santa Teresa High School in San Jose since the ‘80s.  Thank you Mr. Curry and thanks also to all of Tanita’s other teachers at Santa Teresa High School, which in alphabetical order, are Ms. Gonzalez, Mr. Mead, Mr. Phipps, Ms. Pitts and Mr. Shank. Thanks, in fact to all the teachers who have taught Tanita, from her grade school days in Taylor Elementary to her middle school days at Bernal Intermediate to her current high school days at Santa Teresa High. Ever grateful to all of you.