On being left-handed

Murray Kaufman is a retired high-school science teacher and ardent activist. In the following video he describes how, as a child, he was held back in first grade for being left-handed.

https://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/13/i-was-a-rebel/

“You know what I learned from that … to be very tough … and to do what you know is right … and to not give in to any authority that is blind and stupid. So I was a rebel from a young age.”

What he describes is far worse than what I went through, but I can relate. It was about 40 years ago when I made myself switch to using my right hand to write, to conform, to fit in with the others in my first grade class. It’s been so long, I don’t recall if there were any negative comments being made that led me to make the switch. My first grade teacher – Miss Rooney – wasn’t exactly a sweetheart. She may have noticed me writing with my left hand, and she may have commented that only the smart students, the good students wrote with their right hand. She may have even suggested that there was something wrong about being left-handed.

I do know that I struggled with it for a while, naturally preferring to use my left hand. It also made me angry. Using my right hand did not feel natural, and it’s human to feel resistance to doing anything that doesn’t feel natural.  

It also gave me my first taste of non-conformity when at first I decided I was going to be left-handed no matter what anyone thought. My father supported me. He told me some famous people were left-handed, people like Rockefeller, and not to listen to the stupid opinions of others. But I caved in, not because of any pressure or abuse, but because I undervalued myself. I didn’t have enough confidence in myself to be who I was. I began to believe that maybe it would make me smarter, or perform better in class if I made myself switch to using my right hand. At any case, it would make me conform to the satisfaction of my teacher and maybe help me fit in better with the rest of the students.

Think I might have sold myself out. Murray Kaufman describes how he went through a period of stuttering when he was forced to use his right hand. I myself stuttered on and off during my childhood. To this day, I don’t express myself well verbally. Think I’m slighted more because of it, underestimated and do get cut off and spoken over quite a bit. Even by those who tell me they are my friends. Maybe I should have chosen to remain left-handed. 

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about left-handedness: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_handed