her Han

PHOTO BY GLENN TRIEST

RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER

Mr. Goldsmith reports that
right-handed children are
taught to tilt their paper to the
left in order to create the
standard "right-hand slant" of
the letters. "Having left-
handers tilt their paper toward
the left makes things more
difficult and uncomfortable for
them," he says.

14

by sugarcoat the bitter re-
_
ality?
Jeff Goldsmith, a Farm-
ington Hills resident and
author ofLeft-Handed In A
Right-Handed World,
knows life as a southpaw
hasn't been easy. On Little
League baseball teams,
coaches rarely gave him a
chance to play shortstop, sec-
ond or third base.
Young Mr. Goldsmith cov-
ered first base or took to the
outfield, positions better-suit-
ed for lefties. In school, everything from
drinking fountains to pencil sharpen-
ers caused him grief. Violins, typical-
ly strung for righties, disheartened him
all the more.
To whine isn't his intention. Mr.
Goldsmith, 39, says he doesn't advo-

Southpaw hopes
to increase
awareness.

cate special privileges for lefties. What
he wants is more awareness.
"In virtually every civilization
throughout history, there has been
some discrimination against left-han-
ders," Mr. Goldsmith writes in his
book. "Some societies have tried to
eliminate left-handers, but few soci-
eties have ever really understood or
embraced left-handed people."
The English language reinforces his
point. "Right" connotes truth, accu-
racy, goodness, righteousness.

The word "left," on the other hand,
is associated with being left out, left
over or left behind.
A left-handed toast is insincere. Left-
handed flattery isn't worth much. And
a left-handed oath is meant to be bro-
ken.
Mr. Goldsmith gets beyond seman-
tics to explain some age-old customs•
and stigmas.
"The only accepted use of the left
hand in some cultures is to wipe and
clean one's own private parts," he says.
`Throughout much of Asia and Africa,
even today, being left-handed is simply
not tolerated. In cases where verbal
warnings have failed, left hands have
been burned over fires or in scalding
water, or have been beaten or broken
to cure someone of his vulgar, danger-
ous and socially unacceptable habit."

OTHER HAND page 16