Do You Have a Left-Handed Club?

As a lefty, I had to take a moment to read this New York Times article about how more Canadian hockey players are lefty shooters on the ice and more Americans are right-handed shooters.

Here’s one quote from the article: “It’s probably a cultural quirk,” offered Brian Tran, a hockey-playing sales clerk at Cyclone Taylor Sports, a Vancouver hockey store. “Everybody’s doing it one way, so you follow along.”

Interesting.

I’ve been paying attention to my daughter’s holding of Crayons and forks lately to see if she’ll be a righty or a lefty. So far, she tends to favor her right hand. While I hold fast to the fabulous notion left-handed people are incredibly intelligent and creative (it’s totally true!), I have to admit it’s tough being a lefty in a right-handed world.

For those of you who have never had to think about this, here are few examples to help you appreciate the challenges we lefties face:

• Scissors. As a child, I had a pair of lefty scissors, but as I got older, finding adult-sized left-handed scissors was near impossible. I’ve learned to cut with my right hand, which probably explains why I couldn’t cut a straight piece of wrapping paper if my life depended on it.

• Credit card machines. The pens are typically on the right, although now I am pleased to see more with the pen at the top of the machine.

• Doctor’s office clip boards. These are always positioned to the right and often those little pens that are secured to a desk are on the right-hand side. This also applies to a delivery person who hands you a clip board to sign – it’s positioned to the right and you have a help them turn it to the left.

• Notebooks. When you write with your left hand, you bump into the spiral ring on the left-hand side. This is why notepads that open from the top – or legal pads – are a good option for lefties.

• Video cameras. The strap you use when filming is on the right side and the view finder opens on the left. It would really be great if the strap were on the left side so I could hold it in my left hand and be a little more controlled in my shooting.

• Sports. Think golf, shooting a gun, buying a baseball glove (your selection is going to be limited).

• Dining with others. People always want you to sit on the outside of the booth or table so you don’t bump elbows.

• Computers. Like most people, I use a computer mouse with my right hand because as you learn to use a computer, the mouse is always on the right side so you just go with it.

Whether it’s playing hockey or everyday living, we lefties do face some challenges that right-handed people never think about. But, we don’t really mind that much – we’re too busy basking in the glow of our superior creativity and intelligence.

Finding your blogging voice

Finding your own unique blogging voice can be a real challenge. I just wrote a post on our company blog addressing this and offering some tips. Check it out and please share a comment on how you've found your voice.

Hey, check me out in the WSJ

This week I had my 15 minutes of fame when I was included in a story for The Wall Street Journal. I was featured in an online graphic about “How the Great Recession Shaped the U.S. Job Market.” Check it out here. It was part of a larger story both in print and online titled “Even in a Recovery Some Jobs Won’t Return.” Unfortunately, newspaper reporter/editor jobs are among that mix, with the industry having lost more than 73,000 jobs.

And while I think it would have been more fun to have written the story for the WSJ, it also was cool to be included in the article. And maybe I was able to put a human face on the many job losses people have faced over the last couple of years. For so many of us it’s not just about the loss of a paycheck, it’s about the loss of dreams and goals – and that’s truly the greatest tragedy of this recession.

Shifting my spending

As last year’s holiday season rolled around, I set one goal: support more local businesses. A community organization, Lowcountry Local First, promotes buying local and has encouraged consumers to participate in the “10 percent shift” – shifting 10 percent of spending to local businesses. It also hosted a Buy Local Week to promote the idea of buying local.

So as I looked at my holiday shopping list, I wanted to shift more of my spending to small, local businesses. I’m happy to report I was fairly successful. Yes, I still purchased items at Wal-Mart, Target and Amazon.com. But … I also:

• Purchased two toys at Wonder Works just around the corner from my house. They have several of the toys set out for children to play with, which is a great way to see what piqued my daughter’s interest. They also offer layaway and free gift wrapping.

• Bought a gift basket at Ted’s Butcherblock in downtown Charleston, a great little gourmet food and wine store.

• Ordered three sets of cookie tins from Charleston Cookie Co. for my husband’s family in Arkansas and Texas.

• Bought two sweetgrass baskets from the lovely ladies at the Market in downtown Charleston.

All told, I spent more than $200 with local businesses. For the 2010 holiday season, I think I can do even better.

Finding my imagination

As we get older, our capacity for imagination tends to lessen. We live in reality – a world of mortgages, schedules, responsibilities and deadlines. But there is something about having a toddler in your house that helps you see things in a different way.

As Kate and I were eating guacamole the other night, she decided the Tostitos Scoop looked like a crown and started to put it on her head. I laughed and did the same. In fact, it did look like a crown. And so, thanks to my daughter, I occasionally get to take a break from reality and use my imagination.

We've gone to the dogs

Clint is away and, as you can see, I have lost complete control over the household.

And ... that's a wrap on 2009

I took a look back at my last blog post of 2008. Last year was by far the hardest year I’ve ever encountered and I was certain 2009 had to be better. In many ways it was, yet the challenges have remained. My great challenge has come in the final months when Clint accepted a work assignment in Africa. He left at the beginning of November for the yearlong assignment with only one visit home near the halfway point.

We didn’t make this decision lightly. We knew the extra pay he would receive would help us recover from the financial strain of my job loss in 2008. We knew it wouldn’t be easy. Clint would be living on a Navy base in Djibouti, Africa: his small room a converted shipping container; his workweek six or seven days long. It wouldn’t be a picnic.

I would be at home, essentially a single parent responsible for the household, a toddler and my own work.

The last seven weeks have been extremely difficult, and I have a renewed appreciation for single parents as well as those whose spouses are in the military or otherwise working away from home. I’m grateful for friends who have stepped in to help as it’s extra tough when you don’t have any family nearby.

I admit I’m not looking forward to 2010. It will be struggle and I miss my husband dearly. Yet, we’re trying to think long term, making a sacrifice now that we hope will pay off in the long run.