The Vent and Rant Thread

[Freeshadow]

Maybe some recruits were confused by the sinister appearance of the drill sergeant

[cromag]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

Nah. They always say: 'left is where the thumb's on the right side'

If I only had a nickel for every time I've had to say, "No, no! My other right!"

[Katsunami]

I know one person who is unable to distinguish left and right. I find it extremely weird every time I see that happening. To be honest, I don't really understand.

OK, I can understand this: imagine someone who is facing towards you, from the other side of a table. Then tell him: "Put this book on the upper right corner of the table."

Which upper right one? His, or yours? That's confusing, if not made explicit.

What I can't understand is someone turning right in a car when they're told to go left. That's not only confusing, it's dangerous.

[Stitchawl]

I use 'milk' and 'sandwich' rather than left and right. MUCH easier... unless you use both hands to hold your glass...


Stitchawl

[cromag]

I do still pause and my hand twitches as I take a moment to remember which hand (right) I write with.

[phenomshel]

I have to look at my hands. My class ring is on my right hand, wedding rings on the left. If for some reason I'm not wearing rings, I'm in big trouble.

[Lynx-lynx]

As a left hander I've had to try to learn two methods for doing most physical things all my life, because the bulk of people who 'show' me how to do something are right handed.

So, if it's a skill whereby one needs to close one of their eyes in order to take aim, or view through something, then yep they tell me I have to close my left eye.

In order to use a power tool, or ordinary tool, they only show me the right handed method and application. Same goes for painting or any darn thing else!

So, when I was young I used to just go along with it, because a lot of the time it didn't dawn on me to speak out. I learnt from a very early age to be quite ambidextrous, except for certain things like throwing and writing.

But the real problems started to arise when I couldn't understand why, when using a firearm I could get inside the bull but not the dead bull. Seven years into having been instructed on how to use a firearm I realised that I had the wrong eye closed. Yep, I should have been closing my right eye, and leaning slightly weighted to my left side because I was using a two handed grip for pistol shooting. And then guess what - I got the dead bull each time I fired (well often enough anyway considering all the practice that I'd had.) (Meanwhile however I'd still been winning the clay pigeon shoots with my left eye closed - amazing but true!)

Another member of my family was not so capable as to be ambidextrous and suffered from ostracism all his life because he wasn't 'handy' with tools or activities that required clear written speech - yep, he'd been brutalised by his teachers from pre school onwards because he wrote with his 'left' hand and he developed dyslexia. (His knuckles were hit by a ruler each time he used his left hand.)

So for those people who genuinely can't determine their left hand from their right hand, and I've known a few who were quite desperate not to let others know that this was the case, I have empathy with you and wonder if among other things you are naturally left handed but didn't realise it.

It's an apparent non sequitur, but it would be interesting to hear from those that are affected.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

As a left hander I've had to try to learn two methods for doing most physical things all my life, because the bulk of people who 'show' me how to do something are right handed.........

I'm a militant lefty. As a lefty, I went through the same problems every time someone tried to teach me something that required a specific tool, so have spent a lot of time searching out Left-Handed equipment. Most of the tools in my kitchen are left-handed. This creates some funny but eye-opening situations when someone wants to use my kit. When a friend helps with the cooking, they face the same difficulties we lefties do, but they face them for the first time, and as an adult. Knife handles shaped for lefties, Sushi knives with the bevel only on the side for lefties, Measuring cups with the gradient on the 'wrong' side, soup ladles with the spout on the wrong side, can openers that have to be held with the right hand while the left hand turns the crank, etc., etc. They are completely unable to use left-handed scissors!
(Truth is, so am I. I learned using right-handed ones. )

Most right-handed people never realize that even serrated knives are made for right-handed people and need to be held at a slight angle to make them cut properly. My friends don't understand why serrated knives in my house are difficult for them to use. Once they use my equipment, they never laugh again when a lefty complains about left-handed problems. (My wife has her own knives and a few right handed kitchen tools, but rarely does the cooking.) All my rulers have the number 1 starting on the right instead of the left. Much easier for a lefty. Very, very difficult for a right handed person to use the first time.

It's a Right-handed world, but we Militant Lefties are making our stand!
I searched high and low before I found this Left-handed tea cup. I was so pleased to find it that I didn't even mind that it was the wrong month for my birthday!




Stitchawl

[ProfCrash]

I have learning disabilities that affect visual spatial orientation. I struggle to keep things in line, cannot start a picture on the center of a page, cannot space out words when writing on paper, and have no real concept of left/right, north/south/east/west.

As a kid, I had to put a finger from my left hand down after a word before starting the next word to make sure there was a space in between the words. As an adult, I tend to miss the fact that I have forgotten to hit the space bar typing. I rarely start drawing in the center of the page. When I take notes, I misjudge the amount of room a I have for writing. It is amazing how awful my notes look, I am the only person who can understand them.

http://www.ldao.ca/introduction-to-l...-disabilities/

https://www.understood.org/en/learni...cessing-issues

I have dysgraphia which makes the act of writing difficult. It can lead to problems with spelling, poor handwriting and putting thoughts on paper. People with dysgraphia can have trouble organizing letters, numbers and words on a line or page.

http://ncld.org/types-learning-disab...-is-dysgraphia

So yeah, I have no sense of direction and love my GPS unit.

And my husband is responsible for making sure I don't totally over react to our two year old son flipping his letters and numbers because 6 and 9 are really, really tricky.

[cromag]

Hmmm ... for me it was 4 and 9.

And I carry a compass in my pocket when I visit New York City. There's nothing worse than coming up out of the subway and having to circle a city block to get my bearings!

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by cromag

Hmmm ... for me it was 4 and 9.

And I carry a compass in my pocket when I visit New York City. There's nothing worse than coming up out of the subway and having to circle a city block to get my bearings!

I'm surprised that a compass works in the middle of a large city because of all the electro radiation ....

[cromag]

I'd expect trouble in the station because of all the iron -- steel cars, rails, gates, etc. -- but I've never tested it. Works fine on the street, though. Just a simple engineer's compass, like I use for hiking.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

I'm surprised that a compass works in the middle of a large city because of all the electro radiation ....

The compass orients to Earth's magnetic field, and is not affected by stuff in the electromagnetic spectrum.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by cromag

I'd expect trouble in the station because of all the iron -- steel cars, rails, gates, etc. -- but I've never tested it. Works fine on the street, though. Just a simple engineer's compass, like I use for hiking.

My SO is affected by such things. She had a "bump of direction" that worked fine in the suburbs where she grew up. Moving to NYC required considerable adjustment. She discovered her direction sense did not work underground in the subways.
______
Dennis

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by cromag

I'd expect trouble in the station because of all the iron -- steel cars, rails, gates, etc. -- but I've never tested it. Works fine on the street, though. Just a simple engineer's compass, like I use for hiking.

Oh yep I use a compass when I go bushwalking, but it's only there 'just in case' because even when we go off the beaten track others I walk with always seem to know where to go even if it's in a round about way.

In cities, even unfamiliar ones, I just seem to be able to get around without too much bother. Although I enjoy getting lost and then finding my way, I discover all sorts of nooks and crannies and hidden cafes and deli's etc.