"Oh wow, you're left-handed?"

"Wait you're left-handed; that's so weird."

"Wow you're left-handed. Now everything makes so much more sense."

"Does it suck to be left-handed?"

I've been asked all four of these questions many times in my life, but I'm going to be talking about the last one because yes, it really sucks being a rare lefty sometimes. Most righties don't notice this, but literally everything we write in and do is oriented around the righties' points of view, forgetting about the lefties and all of the trouble it takes to rearrange yourself to this uncomfortable and unnatural view of life. Here are some of the disadvantages that come with being one of "them" (left-handed people).

1) Social Stigma

For a long time, left-handed people have been seen in a negative light. Especially in other countries such as Asia, using your left hand is viewed as one of the most offensive and deviant things you can do. But we can't help it, we were "born this way" (Lady Gaga).

2) Smudging

Shoutout to you righties out there who have never written a paper that you were somewhat decently proud of, then looked at it and seen 3/4 of it smudged. What a disappointment and annoyance.

3) Everything is made for righties

Whether it's kitchen supplies, cork screws, spiral-bound notebooks, can openers, inky pens, sports equipment (I had to learn to play field hockey as a righty since there is no such thing as a lefty stick), musical instruments (I hold the guitar upside down and thought this was the normal way to hold it), etc. they are all made for righties.

4) College desks

To you righties out there, let me ask you this: have you ever had to fight for a righty desk in a class, or sit all the way in the back on the aisle in the corner because in a 500 person lecture class, there was only about 10-20 righty seats in the entire hall? I didn't think so. Well, now welcome to my life everyday, trying to get to my classes earlier, which I especially hate when they are already early classes since I am not a morning person, and having to fight with my classmates to be able to be comfortable while I take notes for an hour and a half. Is it that hard to make some more lefty desks? Also, when we are taking exams and in school in general, it's proven left-handed people have a lot harder time in school than right-handed people. While I am taking my midterms, all I can think about is how discombobulated, cramped, and uncomfortable I feel in this desk and next thing I know I run out of time and the exam is over. Great. We are forced to contort and conform ourselves to school's biases towards right-handed people.

5) The spoon, fork, knife, and napkin debacle

It's always annoyed me how, in order to set the table correctly, everything has to be set to the right side of you, and in a specific order that only makes sense to the opposite handwriters, the righties. Is it a crime to simply place my napkin to the left of me? Sheesh.

6) Technically, we read backwards

Books have the binding on the left, which means you read from left to right. But to me, it would make a lot more sense for a book to have the binding on the right, and be read right to left.

7) Driving

Your cupholder is on the right, the gas and brake are on the right, your station to charge your phone is on the right, etc. I should really move to England where they drive on the left side of the road. Along with this, apparently we die sooner, which is just depressing, due to industrial and driving incidents since everything you have to do is unnatural for the lefties. Just depressing. Why can't machines account for me too?

8) Credit card machines

Damn you, just damn you. You think you're all fancy now with the chip option instead of swiping (which the scanner is located on the right mind you) ? Well guess what, when I have bags and bags of groceries or clothing I just bought and I have to put everything down just to sign my silly name because I have to switch everything around since the pen is on the right, I get very very frustrated.

9) Computer keyboards

Maybe this isn't as common anymore since most people use laptops now, but on computer keyboards the number pad is always located on the right, so I would have to reach all the way across my body as a little kid just to type in one or two numbers. Pathetic if you ask me!

10) Scissors

I hold my scissors upside down, bottom line.

11) Fun but not fun fact

"Although left-handed people make up only 10 percent of the population as a whole, they compose a full 20 percent of schizophrenics...and is also associated with dyslexia, ADD, and some mood disorders." The gene that partly makes us left-handed as well as us going slowly mad from right-handed everyday products may be factors of this. Fun, but scary fact.

12) Watches are designed for left wrists

Yes, watches are designed for the left-wrist, but this is not the same as the left hand. Righties for the most part wear their watches on their left wrists, which makes perfect sense because the little knob to change the time is on the right, which makes easy access for them. Me on the other hand, I actually have to take off the watch all together just to change the time, because it is simply too hard to reach all the way over and when I turn it, I have to turn it in the opposite direction.

13) Computer mouse is on right

I've learned to conform to this and just start using my right hand, but computer mouses are always placed on the right side of the computer.

14) The economy favors right-handed people

When I walk into a store, I don't just pick up whatever I need and leave no problem. I always have to search for the left-handed versions of things, such as baseball mitts, and usually there is a very limited amount of them, if there is even the option. Sometimes, it's even more expensive to buy a "special edition" lefty item.

15) Shaking hands

Whether I'm in church, meeting with an interviewer, or meeting somebody for the first time, I always reach out with my left hand automatically to go in for the kill, and it always ends up being a very awkward situation when he/she puts out their right.

16) Bumping elbows

As much as I love sitting next to my friends in class or when we're out to dinner, we constantly hit and clash elbows and there is nothing more annoying than when you're just trying to enjoy your Chipotle burrito and you keep running into the person next to you. You both get annoyed at each other, even though it's neither person's fault, and it just honestly stinks.

17) Three-ring binders

Talk about clashing into something, yet this time it isn't your friend or the stranger sitting next to you, but the annoying and pointy rings on a binder. I stopped using binders--that's how fed up I got.

18) When you use ballpoint pens you're pushing, not pulling

Ballpoint pens are designed to be most efficient when you are smoothly gliding over the page, pulling the pen along with you gracefully as you write. For the rough lefties who have to push the pen, a lot of the time the ink doesn't come out or doesn't write as neatly and smoothly. My handwriting's already sloppy enough as it is, but maybe this is due to this whole problem.

19) We think differently, and therefore are more self-conscious to decision-making

Lefties take a lot longer to make decisions, and often make more mistakes than righties because of the way our brain works and how different our decision processes are than righties. We are also the minority in a dominant right-handed society, so we often feel self-conscious and insecure, not ever confident in our decisions up against the right-handed leaders in the world.

20) Sometimes being a lefty just isn't an option

There are often times where I question my identity as a lefty because I am repeatedly forced to act as a righty and follow the right-handed way of living rules. A lot of the time your choice in a situation is to be a righty or not participate at all, so I've had to change the way I do things in various points in my life, mostly coming unnaturally to me and really forcing me to pay more close attention.

Nowadays, I consider myself both left-handed and right-handed. I have had to conform to so many things using my right hand because they simply don't make nearly as many things for left-handers, even though I identify as a left-hander and this is the hand I write with. My mom recently just bought me a "Calendar for lefties" calendar, so at least calendars are starting to make the adjustment and not discriminate. I am a left-handed writer, I hold eating utensils with my left-handed, I play tennis lefty, but in golf I am a righty, in field hockey and ice hockey I am a righty, I throw lefty but hit righty in baseball, I can kick with both feet in soccer, I prefer going from the right side of stage to the left side of stage when I dance, and I could go on forever with this. But bottom line, our society teaches us to learn how to do certain things the righty way, and I never really realized how limited we are as lefties. There is always less lefty versions of products, if there is even one available, such as the 10 lefty desks in class, one gross lefty glove in gym class, or the two lefty scissors in pre-k. I feel special being in that rare 10%, but I wish more people celebrated lefties instead of discouraging them. Long live the left-handed!