Minor Minority

The thing about minorities, is they're not always noticed by the ruling class. I've talked to many people about one specific minority group I belong to and realize time and again how many things they don't realize that makes life difficult for us. There's a lot of things that are different between your world and mine that you probably don't realize. And there's a lot of people who still think we're "deviant" and "need to change" but I refuse to believe them. You see, I'm left-handed. What kinds of things are difficult for lefties, you ask? You'd be surprised.

For one, Scissors. You know, it took my family thirty years to come across proper left-handed scissors outside of a specialty shop? I still have difficulties cutting things and ask others to take that burden whenever possible. It's so difficult to cut when you have to contort your body to see the line you're cutting on.

Stairs. The reason everyone uses the right side is to hold onto the rail with your dominant hand. When others are using the stairs, we can't use our dominant hand to hold onto the rails. We're forced to conform to the majority to make others comfortable. Sometimes, I just stop caring and use the left side and make the others move instead. It gets tiring sometimes to change to suit the needs of another when the other never acknowledges you.

For that matter, the Flow of People on sidewalks and streets. Have you noticed that people walk to the right side of every wide pathway? That means we have to too, even if it makes us uncomfortable.

Dials, Knobs, Buttons, Doors. They're nearly always meant to be operated by right-handed people.

Instruments. Certain instruments, for instance, the strings, are also keyed to be played by right-handed people, and left-handed versions are hard to come by

While we're talking about hobbies, Sports Mitts. Finding a left-handed softball mitt was nearly impossible growing up. I had to go to a specialty sports shop in a mall, paying extra, and there was only one left-handed mitt in the whole shop!

These are just a few examples of things that make life difficult for lefties. There are many others, but I'm sure many people don't care so much as I, even among the lefties, and that's fine. If you think I'm over-dramatizing the situation, you're free to think that. I just wanted to point out to some people that little things you don't think about may be making life difficult for another. Something small you don't even realize you're doing. Everyone needs to think about more than their own needs and start thinking about the needs of the important people around them too. After all, what's life when you're always alone?