Twah! The slap landed on my cheek. Tears welled up in my eyes. This was not due to how painful the slap was, but due to the anger and humiliation of this public assault. It was an impotent anger as there was nothing I could do. If stare could kill, I would have murdered Elder Opa. He is my uncle known for temper which was as short as him. He is barely 5ft, squat with a thick neck and hairy chest.
I made the mistake of collecting the money he gave me with the left hand. Growing up, I was ambidextrous.
This had led to a similar warning from elders on my bad habit of giving or accepting things with the left hand. I still do not care if a person is using left or right in receiving or giving. But, I noticed the elders here all take a rather severe stance on which hand you use to give or receive.
There is the belief it is disrespectful to use the left to give or receive. When I asked an elder who was in good mood after a good dose of palm wine, he tried to explain the reason for this practice. He said, "People use the left hand to wipe their behind after doing their business. So I guess you do not want to have someone hand you something with it after doing that, do you? He asked with an amused smile. "Also, the left hand is used to give gifts to the gods." He concluded.
The left-handed in our society would be forced to use right in other not to appear rude when giving or receiving things. But cheer up lefties, five out of the last seven US Presidents have been left-handed.
So, if you're a lefty who gets annoyed with all the right-handed bias in the world, perhaps you can help change things as the next president :)
| Name of the USA President | Order of presidency | Note on left-hand use |
|---|---|---|
| James Garfield | 20th | Able to simultaneously write Latin with his right hand and Greek on right |
| Herbert Hoover | 31st | Left-handed |
| Harry Truman | 33rd | Another leftie but forced to use right in school |
| Gerald Ford | 38th | Ambidextrous |
| Ronald Reagan | 40th | Born left-handed but forced to use right at an early age |
| George H.W. Bush | 41st | A leftie |
| William Clinton | 42nd | He is naturally left-handed |
| Barack Obama | 44th | He is left-handed and not shy to use it! |
The only popular Nigerian leader I know that is left-handed is Babatunde Raji Fashola, former Governor of Lagos State and currently the Federal Minister of Power, Works, and Housing.
Source
My only guess is others, like me, had their left-handedness slapped off them at an early age :)
The geneticist, Dr. Amar J. S. Klar, who studied handedness, found out that many artists and writers are left-handed, thereby indicating that lefties may indeed have a broader ability of thought. He also notices that ambidextrous or left-handed people are generally able to engage in more intense and complicated thought.
How are left-handed people viewed in your culture? Let me know in the comments below.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Regards,
@greenrun ... still running :)
It's not such a big thing in America any more, and I do believe that Lefties are more talented than poor ole, I do everything with my right hand type people like me. Most writers seem to be left handed, at least the ones that write for fun and enjoyment.
4.James Baldwin
So @greenrun, you are in good company if your a lefty. And I have to wonder if :
So someone giving me something with their left hand is them looking at me as a God, since I am so good looking, handsome, and intelligent? LoL I think not. ;-)
These are lovely books.
A god with small g not capital G. That makes a lot of difference.
Lol, spot on. Collecting things from anyone with the left hand was truly an aru(abomination).
You must be Igbo then?
I think it's a Nigeria thing. I don't know if other countries frown on this too.
It's a weird culture.
I have two left handed kids. I'm pretty sure I am left handed but it was slapped out of me as well - except with a ruler across the knuckles. I write with my right hand but throw with my left and I have red hair....two strikes against me. I am creative and definitely a thinker. I do have ambidextrous tendencies.
Canada rid the evil of correcting left handedness. I'm not sure when. But by the time I had children in the late 70's I could purchase left handed scissors and the like for my children.
True that, I think left-handed people are a little above average on the creative index. I've noticed many artists who are lefties. Also getting left handed scissors is something you'll have to specially order for here, as the country has not much specific things for the left handed people.
I am left-handed
They tried to slap it away from me to at my early age
I think it was my grandmother
That stopped them
My junior sis too is a left handed but with serious talking, i think she changed
But i didn't, was lucky though
But people here still insult me on using it
It is referred to as owo osi and that osi can also be referred to as a bad thing when use in another form in a sentence(oshi)
Wi need vote from people like you. Lol
The only downside is some left handed people's handwriting can be scrawly, which fits very well if they turn out to be doctors. Hehehe
Thats true
But all the lefties i have seen there handwriting is nice including me
That profession and there writing sha
Yes disadvantage has the word advantage in it
So it surely fit well for doctors with such handwriting but they ought to improve there handwriting
Really? That's cool. The ones I know their writings ain't that cool
That may be true.
There's always an exception, and you my friend, is one :)
Thanks bro
Ah, I didn't know about this in Nigerian culture....is it this way in others too?
I only know of Nigeria. I think other African country may have a bias against use of the left hand. I know an uncle who was left handed. The dad was a liberal man who never "corrected" him. He turned out to be a great photographer based in the UK now. Who knows if he was corrected whether his gift could've been corrected also.
My little cousin is always fund of using left, and she's not left handed.. In most African countries it's a very bad habit nice post thou
Thank you for dropping by.
My mom is left handed. Being left handed is not seen as significant in my culture at all.
It really shouldn't be a big deal.
Well put. Its beautiful and so true. Its just our culture that makes normal things seem like an abomination. Even to the so called ellites.
The culture is unique, got its good and the not-so-good. Thanks for your input.