Hello Keith and Lauren,

I’ll just mention an argument I got into last week with a left-handed theme.

I was sending something at our local Post Office by special delivery.   I had to sign a slip to confirm my name and address in case of problems delivering the package.   The pen for signing was on the right-hand side of the counter on a short chain.   As it would have meant twisting into an awkward position, I used my own pen.   The lady behind the counter said “Why not use our pen?”.   I said “Because it’s on the wrong side of the counter for me, it’s discriminating against left-handers”.  

The sub-postmaster now joined in and said “You’re talking rubbish”.   I said “I’m not talking rubbish, it’s awkward for a left-hander to write with the pen on the right-hand side, and don’t speak to a customer like that”.   He said “I’m left-handed and it doesn’t bother me”.   He of course is on the other side of the counter and wouldn’t have a chained pen to use.   He started to raise his voice and I said “Right, I’m going to make a complaint to your superiors, what’s your name?”.   He said “It’s on the front of the counter” in a supercilious voice.   I could see “Chris” in tiny letters which I could just about read, not in an obvious position.   He then said “What’s your name?”.   I gave my full name and said “I don’t mind anybody knowing my name, what’s YOUR surname?”.   He wouldn’t give it!   The lady now said “I think you’d better go, you’re upsetting the other customers”.    None of the other customers looked upset.

When I got home I sent off an email to Royal Mail to say I had been spoken to rudely by one of their staff and made a suggestion that pens are placed in a better position for left-handers.   We’ll see what happens.

Best wishes, David Dawber.

Quite apart from the bad attitude and rudeness of the Post Office staff member, we think this is an outrageous story!    Our thanks to David for taking the time to share and standing up for us lefthanders and if you have had similar experiences please let us know by leaving a comment below.

CWL, Customer Services Dept, PO Box 187,
Leeds, LS7, 1EF, United Kingdom.
Your invoice from Anything Left Handed that we include with your watch when it is sent will act as a valid receipt for the purposes of the guarantee.

Click here to see our range of backwards watches

This is a scan of the guarantee leaflet included with each watch:
(please note that this is for watches only and does not apply to the backwards clock from Tobar)

Click here to see our range of backwards watches

www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk

Last order date for UK delivery is:
07.00 UK time on Monday 19th December 2011

We will keep despatching orders right up to Friday 23
December and some orders placed soon after the official last
dates may still reach you in time but we cannot be sure.

Don’t forget to get your lefthanders diary for 2012:
(full details, pictures and videos on the product pages)

Block calendar 2012 with a tear-off sheet for each day
http://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/acatalog/block_calendar.html

Spiral bound 2012 desk diary
http://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/acatalog/desk_and_engagement_diary.html

Cartridge pens with traditional nibs use water-based inks and work by putting a flow of ink into the page.  This can easily be smudged, but the suituation can be improved by using a finer nib that does not deposit a thick line of ink and by using a fast-drying ink.

Another solution is to use a ball-point or rollerball pen.

Ball point pens use a viscous, or thick, oil-based ink.  They need firm pressure to write on the page and can tend to skip and leave gaps in the writing line

Rollerball pens are very similar but use a thinner, water-based ink that flows more easily and means you need less pressure to write with them.  There is a wider range of colours available with water-based inks and because a thicker layer of ink is depostited they write with a bolder line than a ballpoint.

Because more ink is used in writing, rollerballs can run our quicker than ballpoints and originally were easily smudged.  However, newer inks are now being made that are much faster drying and virtually non-smudge .

Rollerballs can also use gel based inks and are known as Gel Pens.  The pigment for the colour is suspended in a water-based gel and can give even more and bolder colurs than the rollerball ink as well as special effects like pastel colours for writing on dark surfaces, metallic and glitter effects.  The gel ink can feel smoother when writing and is less likely to skip and leave gaps.

Stabilo have produced a range of rollerball and gel pens with specially designed left handed grips and also produce a range of rollerball and gel pens with fast drying non-smudge inks that are ideal if you tend to smudge your writing.

And if you do want a traditional ballpoint, we have them in sets with our left-handed cartridge pens

The best thing you can do is practice a correct writing style and grip that avoids smudging altogether, but if that is not comfortable, using any of these non-smudge pens should be a big help.

Videos on left handed writing challenges and solutions

The Yashica Samurai film camera of the late 1980s is one of the only ones to have been in regular production but it was very expensive for what it was and was not a success.

We did at one time stock a left-handed 35mm film camera that had been made very cheaply and was almost a throw-away item, but even though the price was very low it was not worth selling as there were so many problems with it – the last thing you want is to find that you cannot actually get the photos you have taken printed!

Samsung have recently launched a digital video camera that can be used equally well left handed and right handed and you can see more details on the Samsung Q10 left handed digital video camera here.

We have approached some of the major manufacturers over the years and the answer is always that the small percentage of lefthanders does not justify the cost of development and production of a different model.

If you know any more about left handed cameras please add a comment below.

“Hi, I hope you can help me. I’m trying to find a left handed pint glass for my father. He claims to have had one years ago (I believe it was obtained when he visited the Norfolk Broads) but I am  having trouble finding any. He says it looked like a normal handled pint glass except it had a lip on one side for drinking from.”

If anyone know of such a thing please tell us more!

This is a little snippet that has done the rounds on lots of “useless facts” type websites and has recently been appearing in some “forward me” emails.  We have never seen a proper source for this “fact” so if anyone knows one please add it as a comment below.  Once generated on a list somewhere this type of content seems to proliferate around the web with nobody ever actually checking if it is real.  The same thing happens with lists of famous lefthanders (or not!)

I guess that at least 10 times as many right-handers are also killed using “right-handed products” so it is pretty meaningless really.

There was some research published by Stanley Coren a loong while back that reported left-handers being more prone to accidents and as a result dying on average y0unger than right-handers but we are pretty sure that if that was really the case the life assurance and pensions companies would have picked up on it and tried to charge differential rates for lefthanders.

We do have a lot of anecdotal evidence that machinery and equipment is nearly always designed for right-handers and in some cases actually dangerous to use left-handed – circular saws and chainsaws are two good examples and a lot of factory machinery with safety guards and cutout switches positioned for right handed use of the equipment.

What do you think?  Are us left-handers being wiped out by using right-handed equipment?

“I was interested to read about how most left handers hold their knives and forks like a right hander would. I reckon that this possibly stems from how the table was laid out for us when we were children by our parents i.e. with the knife on the right and the fork on the left. I started off like this however I changed over around 25 years ago and have stuck to it (I couldn’t eat the other way now, it would feel so awkward!)

It’s interesting that most left handers, if just using a knife without a fork, for instance to cut bread, would have the knife in their left hand, yet swap it to their right hand if using a fork.”

Our thoughts…

Our surveys show that the vast majority of lefthanders DO eat with the fork in their left and knife in their right (what is traditionally called “right-handed”).  Yes, it is all a bit mixed up, but at least we do always use the same (left) hand to feed ourselves – either with a fork or a spoon, where right handers usually change hands, using a fork in their left when they have a knife as well but changing to use a spoon in their right when they are using it on its own.  Who is the more mixed up?  (mind you, it makes it easy for them to use a spoon and fork to eat spaghetti where we left handers git in a “right” muddle”!!)

PLEASE NOTE: Because Christmas Day is a Sunday this year these dates are earlier than normal

Please order as early as possible to ensure you receive your orders at this busy time of year for the postal services.

Some definitions:

• A criticism or insult disguised as a compliment, an insult in the guise of an expression of praise
• A compliment with two meanings, one of which is unflattering to the receiver.
• Sometimes, a left-handed compliment may be inadvertent. However, the term usually indicates an intent to belittle or condescend Also called backhanded compliment
• A type of Asteism – Polite irony; a genteel and ingenious manner of deriding another.

Examples:

• Boy, you’re pretty hot… for a fat (or skinny) chick!
• The senator said that her opponent was quite competent for someone so inexperienced
• Your son is more handsome than I would have expected
• That dress is lovely – it does wonders for your figure

If you have any more information about the origin of this term or any good examples of amusing “backhanded” compliments, please post them as comments on this article below.