Yes righties, WE get our own day, August 13th. In case you are wondering how just many of us are there, a study suggests that approximately 7 to 10 percent of the adult population is left-handed, and that left-handedness is more common in males than females. However, sadly, this wasn’t so until a few years back. For e.g In Britain, a study in the 1970s found that around 11 percent of men and women aged 15–24 were left-handed, compared to just 3 percent in the 55-64 age category. Why, you ask? Well primarily, because for some reason, everybody seems to have a problem with us right from the prehistoric times. Nowadays however there is more tolerance, hence the larger number.

Somehow, left side has ALWAYS been linked with satan and negative traits. To quote Wikipedia, “There are many colloquial terms used to refer to a left-handed person, e.g. "southpaw". Some are just slang or jargon words, while others may be offensive or demeaning, either in context or in origin. In more technical contexts, 'sinistral' may be used in place of 'left-handed'. This term is derived from sinestra, a Latin word meaning 'left'. However, the English word sinister also comes from sinestra, which took on meanings of "evil" or "unlucky" by the Classical Latin era.

Left hand shakes are a sign of disrespect. In Hebrew, as well as in other ancient Semitic and Mesopotamian languages, left hand symbolized the power to shame society, and was used as a metaphor for misfortune, natural evil, or punishment from the gods.

Similarly, in Portuguese, the most common word for left-handed person, canhoto, was once used to identify the devil, and canhestro, a related word, means "clumsy" Furthermore, in English, the expression "To have two left feet" refers to clumsiness in the domains of football or dancing.” For more such references head here.

Moving on, because well, past is past. Things have improved for us quite a bit in the last decade. You don’t really hear stories of lefty children being forced to switch over anymore (for e.g by tying a ruler/scale to their left hand), which is great. As a result, the scale of our problems has decreased, but they remain relevant, or so I would like to think. Here’s a quick list:

1. If you’ve met us: We extend our left hand, you extend your right, oops, mirror image, incompatible. And then there’s this whole thing about it being rude and unmannered. When crossing paths the same thing happens and we end up performing a small jig, feeling stupid and then going our way. If we side part our hair, the partition is on our left, opposite to what is expected.
2. If you’ve dined with us: *elbow bump*, “I am sorry, I am left handed”. At dinner table, we sometimes end up drinking from the neighbor’s glass, and a few strange looks later we realize the error. TIP: always wait for the person on your left to take a sip, and then remember to stay AWAY from that glass.
3. If you’ve shopped with us: When we put the clothes back on the rack, they are facing the wrong way. Or when the cashier puts up the slip to sign but tilts it for a righty. Then there are these pens connected to the pads with a string, a TINY little string.
4. If you’ve traveled with us: We seem to be a little bad with directions. “Take right at next intersection......I said RIGHT not left” Well, I guess a reason for that is, since all instruction we get since childhood is for righties, we develop a natural inclination to use left when told right, hence the confusion. Try east/west, works like a charm.
5. If you’ve seen us write: This is a big one. We. Write. Weird. Well we have to. Because the script is left to right, if we wrote ‘normally’, we would end up smudging it immediately. Hence many variants exist, each as radical as the other. Rotating the paper 90 deg clockwise, or curling up the wrist so you are writing upside down etc. Then there are table chair combos, all of them seem to be right handed, just how is a lefty supposed to write on it, weird or otherwise?
6. If you have a left handed kid: its near impossible to teach them how to tie the laces or a tie. Why? Because the instructor is a right hander. How do u expect a kid to see it, mirror it in his head and perform the same action? TIP: Have a left hander show them how its done.
7. Everyday right-handed things: For starters, doors. Yea. Try opening and closing one with your left hand sometime and you’ll know. Scissors, those things just refuse to cut if held in left. Fountain pens, the nibs are designed for a right hander. When we try to push it to the right, it tries to go up because of the design. Its part reason why our writings are so bad, usually. Sports equipment, golf clubs, hockey sticks etc. Musical instruments, piano has the high notes on right, guitars are designed for right handers. You could get a left handed one too, specially made and at extra cost, ofcourse. The computer mouse. Can openers. This is just the beginning.