You will not truly realize you are different until you are about 5 years old and your parents decide to enroll you in your first kindergarten class. Sooner or later – well actually, sooner – arts and crafts time will come…and the teacher will come around with a box full of scissors. You notice that there are two different colors – red and green. You pick the green ones because that is what everyone else picked and you really don’t want to be different, and soon you realize that they don’t work. You get frustrated and since you are only five you begin to whimper. This catches the teacher’s attention. The teacher quickly assesses the situation, sees that you are attempting to use righty scissors with your left hand, and hands you a red pair. She gives you no explanation for the swap, and all your new friends look at you with confusion. From there on you are known as “that girl with the red scissors.”

Well, not really…just in your mind.

You see, now you have developed a complex. You believe that the world is against you, and whenever you meet a fellow lefty, you enlist him (or her) into your private club. There are many ways to spot these lefties…you don’t even need to see one write. For example, most will seem uncomfortable when performing everyday tasks, and more often than not hate driving stick shift because the stick is on the right side. Instinctively, you know that someone is a lefty if you notice the remnants of smeared words all over the pinky side of their left hand. Trust me. I know. I have experience.

Anyway, there is no membership to this club, and no fee. Just a simple way of being. Whenever you meet a lefty you find a common ground. You both have something similar to complain about. Everyday, you will find yourself meeting complete strangers and strike up a conversation just because you are both lefties. You will talk about how doors are made for righties, and point out to each other how all the important keys on the keyboard are on the right side. You will mention to the other how much trouble you have using a can opener, and how sad it is that you never get to look at the picture on the mug when you drink your coffee.

From the day you use your first pencil you will realize that pencil sharpeners were not made with your comfort in mind either. Even water fountains will cause problems because the button is on the right and you will be forced to compromise. You will complain about getting squirted in the face by water, and insist that even though righties may complain about it, it happens to lefties far more often. When you get into college, you will find to your dismay that you will only be able to sit in the outside left side seats in lecture halls because they are the only ones with desks on the left side.

Although being a lefty can be a great trial, you learn to live with it. Eventually, you will find that the world is not against you. The truth of the matter is that you are simply a minority. Unlike most minorities, who stand out because of their ethnicity or handicap, lefties are rarely noticed, unless you unavoidably bump your elbow into a righty during dinner, and cause him to spill his wine in his lap because there were no open seats at the left end of the table.

Then you will be noticed…and it will be just like that day in kindergarten, except this time there will be an angry man with a fresh purple stain on his favorite khakis.