Among the countless hours of my life that were wasted by the Islamic regime in Iran; in their pathetic quest for religious indoctrination, I vividly remember that particular session in the elementary school in which, we were told by the teacher: “at the end of the judgment day, those who prevail – and rise to heaven – will hold the resume of their deeds in their right hands, but those who hold it in their left hands will burn in hell for eternity”
Well, that was the moment that I realized that I won’t have any luck with religion, for that I always hold almost anything of value in my left hand, anyway! And so does the 8-15% of the population!
I wouldn’t concern myself if the injustice was confined to the imaginary world of afterlife but unfortunately, it doesn’t. According to Dr. Diane F. Halpern of California State University at San Bernardinoand Dr. Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia “left-handers were more than five times (7.9 percent to 1.5 percent) as likely to die in accidents, often while driving. One reason, they suggested, is that left-handers live in a world designed for right-handers.”
And mortality rate is not the only concern. It is also about the ease-of-use and the loss of performance. In fact, the society has persistently ignored the need of left-handers for customized tools - for any device that does not offer a symmetric use – including automobiles, many kitchen utensils, sports equipments, professional tools, musical instruments, photography equipments, to name a few.
And in rare cases where the left-hander’s version is available, those items are scarce, expensive and difficult to find.
Let us think about it. While almost one out of every nine people on this planet is left-handed, why shouldn’t designers and manufacturers be obliged to accommodate lefties? Why designers aren’t required by law, to offer a left-handed alternative for every device that does not provide a symmetric use?
I am sure that the business has enough ingenuity to accommodate left-handed users, without incurring a significant loss, provided that we left-handed, either exert enough pressure on the industry – through demand boycott – or force our elected representatives to push through proper regulations to protect the rights of our ignored minority.
Now that one of us, is the president of the United States (Barak Obama) and another is the prime minister of England (David Cameron), isn’t it the time to demand our right for equality? We can’t get any stronger than this.
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* Then (as to) the companions of the right hand; how happy are the companions of the right hand! And (as to) the companions of the left hand; how wretched are the companions of the left hand!
Verses 8 and 9 from Qoran’s The Inevitable (Al-Waqia)
