[TenTec] Right handed versus correct handed (was sinister doings)

[Goveia, William P]

As a lefty, I may as well weigh in.  I have learned, by neccesity, to do
many things right handed, some to the exclusion of doing them right handed.
It probably sounds funny to you 'right' handed folks, but there are subtle
things that can present a challenge to us as lefties (I thing the
politically correct term for us is correct handed, since the other folks are
called right handed, hi).  Nearly every HT known to man has the PPT on the
left side....this is somewhat frustrating, since if forces you to hold the
radio in a somewhat clumsy way.  Also, many PTT appear to be designed to be
pressed with somewhat gentle pressure, which can be somewhat challenging
with ones thumb (why do you think being clumsy is referred to as being all
thumbs?).  Most HF rigs I've seen have the same difficulty.

Heck, I love the hobby, so I adapt.  There are things I've let go of, to my
own detriment.  I was forced to learn to cut with right handed scissors, and
now, I can barely stand to use scissors.  On the other hand, one of my
hobbies is origami, which I was attracted to because you aren't supposed to
use scissors.  I learned to bat right handed, and continued to bat right
handed until my coach saw me writing with my left hand.  So, then I got more
playing time; I wasn't that great of a hitter, but in little league, you can
really confound a pitcher by batting left then right then left.  You walk a
lot!

I golf right handed, but again, I love it, so I adapted.  It was economics,
pure and simple...left handed clubs generally cost about 30% more around
here than right handed. At any rate, I've learned to deal with stuff like
telephones (yes, most are designed for right handed people...), computer
mice (I insist on using my left hand, even thought I can use the right
nearly as well these days for that), and all of the other things.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I enjoy something enough, I'll
adapt.  The day's of allowing myself to stop doing something because of
something as uncontrollable as which hand is dominant are long gone for
me...maybe I'm getting stubborn as I get older...

73,
Bill
KB9RBW

William Goveia, Network Operations Specialist 
School of Education, Indiana University Bloomington 
wgoveia@indiana.edu  ||  http://bill.goveia.com