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International Left Hander's Day

5K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  jon p 
#1 ·
#2 · (Edited)
Mark your calendar, celebrate the date: 13 August:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Lefthanders_Day
Sounds like pictures are in order. Here is my MK II Lefty:



Here are the all left handed controls on my (one of a kind) Ninjamatic:


Here is my left handed Sierra Session 10 Pedal Steel Guitar:


As I often say, "if you want it bad enough and are willing to pay the cost, there are no unsurmountable barriers to being left handed."
 
#6 ·
Oldblades,

See the above reply regarding my disability.

I was fortunate in having a mother who would not allow me to feel sorry for myself. Though we were working poor, with an absent father, Mom had pride in self reliance that she passed on to me. During High School, I had a job cleaning a café after closing and on weekends. The owner (Mel Lendhardt) would not stand for any guff off of me. Whenever I came up against a task that everyone else accomplished with two hands and asked for help, Mel would say, "you're a smart kid." "Figure it out yourself." So I grumbled and then figured things out myself. I could not have had a better education in self reliance and a pro-active lifestyle.

In my 30s, I had a friend who was a psychiatrist. He was also a paraplegic dwarf. I thought I was a tough guy. I learned a lot of humility through that friendship.
 
#8 ·
Onearm, I have a friend that has a similar situation. His was caused by post polio disease. There is no task that I would ever assume he couldn't do. The man is amazing. He can't use his right shoulder, so he uses his left hand to place his right hand where it needs to be, then hangs on with it and uses his hand to do anything. It really is amazing to me.

But back to us lefties, here is a list of famous folks that are lefties. Unfortunately it includes a couple of folks I would rather not be associated with.
http://www.hlntv.com/slideshow/2014/08/11/left-handed-celebrities-actors-musicians?hpt=hp_t4
 
#9 · (Edited)
But back to us lefties, here is a list of famous folks that are lefties. Unfortunately it includes a couple of folks I would rather not be associated with.
http://www.hlntv.com/slideshow/2014/08/11/left-handed-celebrities-actors-musicians?hpt=hp_t4
Obviously, being left handed does not signify either moral or intellectual superiority, though you may notice a higher than expected by random chance ratio of artists, writers, musicians and actors who are lefties. We are simply more creative (on average) than righties. Seriously, you can look it up it is true.
 
#15 ·
WWII Army rifle range

my left handed dad told me the army made leftys learn to shoot right handed! i wonder to this day, what was their reasoning behind this. i was concerned when i was drafted in 1968 as i shoot lefty also, the army didnt care-- and me and my trusty M-14 shot some good scores!!:eek::bthumb:
 
#18 · (Edited)
Righty/Lefty

Probably because bolt action springfields have to be shot right handed. When I was in, 62-65, one cared either.
Considering the fact that it is possible to operate a right handed bolt action rifle left handed, quickly and reliably (see the American sharpshooter in the movie Saving Private Ryan in Sophia's most recent link) there is no real reason to force a lefty to shoot such a rifle right handed.

I have fired a number of right handed rifles left handed, including many bolt action and four different semi-auto rifles with right side eject. It isn't rocket science to figure out how to do so with great success and with no brass hitting you in the face (though you might want to always wear long sleeved shirts).

I only switched to left handed and ambidextrous rifles because I can...not out of necessity.

One of my current favorites is my recently purchased Remington 597 (22 WMR). It is a right port eject, semi-auto ambidextrous stock, joy to shoot:
 
#19 ·
Fella's;

Sorry I got to this party late. The reason(s) abound, but oh well.

I was particularly amused by the post that referred to school systems switching left handed students to write with the right hand. When I first entered school, they attempted that with me. I reported that to my parents, both of whom had rather recently at the time been serving WWII Marines. Both of them went to the school and had a "chat" with the principal. I wasn't aware of it at the time, I just knew that the harassment ceased. It was probably a couple of decades later that I got "the rest of the story".

I too went through basic with the M14, was allowed to shoot from the left shoulder, and not one word was spoken about it. They simply didn't care.

900F
 
#20 ·
Boy do I have a horror story about this. First of all I used to write with both hands. I would write my first name with my left hand and my last name with my right. It made perfect sense to me. One day a teacher told me I had to choose and I was in the middle of writing with my left hand so I became a lefty. Later when a teacher was trying to tech me cursive he put me in the back of the room behind a wall locker when everyone else was writing so I wouldn't 'get confused' and he taught me in private how to write my letters. Problem was he taught me with his left hand. So now my handwriting is identical to a right handed persons left handed writing! I should sue......

Oh, in the army they didn't care. I got a lot of hot brass down my back from my m16 until I started canting it (which they hated). And in my unit we all practiced with both hands since you never know. I (and the other 2 lefties) always excelled at this.
 
#21 · (Edited)
M-14 left handed

made for some painful times, the hot brass would eject and land on my right wrist and lay there against the cuff of my fatigue long sleeve shirt! i learned to slightly flick my wrist to shake it off before it burned me too badly. i had a lot of burn marks for a while there. WOW, the good old days. the 14 was a fine battle rifle and always amazed me how far out it would reach and hit my target. man was it heavy though. i never even saw a M-16, when i got to my post in wildflecken germany in nov 1968 we also were issued M-14s.:D
 
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