Born To Be Odd!

There was nothing anyone could do about it.  Some tried.  Mrs. Constable, a second grade teacher made an attempt.  It failed. Mrs. Morse, a fourth grade teacher also tried unsuccessfully.  Nothing could be done.  I was born left-handed!

Being odd is not easy.  Mrs. Morse told me I'd never be able to write with a fountain pen.  You see I write with my left-hand turned upside down.  This creates smudges on whatever I have written in the lines above.  That doesn't work well when using a fountain pen.  Mrs. Morse's comment stayed with me for years.  Then, in my college years, I took up the challenge and began to write with a fountain pen and I still do.

Growing up being odd created many problems.  Every instrument, tool, and even spiral notebooks are made for right-handed people.  I tried to play soft ball.  I'd catch the ball, pull off the glove on my left hand and then throw the ball with my left!  I soon gave up that sport after much teasing.  There is a glove for left-handed people, but I never had one.

When I was forty years old a friend gave me left-handed scissors.  For years I found using scissors (right-handed scissors) a real chore and avoided the use of them.  I enjoy wood-working, but every table saw, band saw, hand saw, and most other wood-working tools are made for right-handed people.  Even automobiles are made for right-handed people, as are lawn mowers, chain saws, weed whackers, etc.

Have you ever seen a right-handed person and a left-handed person paint together?  It's hilarious.  The right-handed person sets the ladder one way (the right way) and starts in the "right" corner.  The left-handed person sets the ladder just the opposite way and starts in an opposite (that is, odd) corner.

So, I'm odd.  I've been this way for threescore and ten years.  I don't count it a disability.  I've managed to survive in this right-hand world.  I just wish Mrs. Morse could see me writing with a fountain pen!