A left-handed engineer: pt.1
The very beginnings
I was born and raised in the small town of Ohrid. A popular summer destination, sitting on the hilly shores of Lake Ohrid, in the middle of the Balkans. Back in the 90s, my mother was teaching the basics of informatics at the local faculty. Therefore, my family has always been the early adopter type when it comes to computer technology. We were subscribed to all the local tech magazines, Enter (MK), BUG (HR), Svet Kompjutera (RS). Yes, printed and delivered to your house monthly. The kind of subscription where you need to unsubscribe by sending a handwritten letter.
I grew up surrounded by technology. From 21" CRT monitors to 4kg laptops, from 28k dial-up to ADSL modems, from 3,5" floppy disks to CD-DVD burners, from PS (the original) to Nintendo NES.
I was playing a lot, and I was learning a lot. Whether I was copying Duke Nukem 3D using 13 floppy disks, patching my PS so I can play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater on pirated CDs, or downloading my favorite video game soundtracks via eMule. Most of the soundtracks would end up being recorded during radio broadcasts containing local commercials at the beginning and the end of the songs. Finally, they would end up on a cassette tape so I can listen to them on the road in our family car.
At the same time, I enjoyed coloring books and drawing. I was drawing with my left hand. Naturally, I learned to use the computer with the mouse in my left hand. However, both of my parents were right-handed, so I learned to use the mouse with their settings, meaning the middle finger was my index finger. I never switched the mouse buttons. At that age, I probably didn’t even know you can do that. So, it grew on me. I guess ergonomics and accessibility were not my priorities at that age. Therefore, I’ve spent the rest of my life flipping cards in Solitaire, shooting weapons in Counter-Strike, developing cities in SimCity, casting spells in WoW and Dota, sending emails, downloading songs and movies, booking planes and hotels, applying for jobs… All with my left-hand middle finger. Chances are I’ve published this article using my middle finger.
Being left-handed is often a challenge. The design of everyday things sometimes forces you to learn how to use your right hand. Therefore, many left-handed people learn to be ambidextrous. The world seems to be built with right-handed people as the primary audience. From jacket buttons, school desks, spiral notebooks, scissors, rulers, playing cards, learning to play guitar, using the keyboard, you name it. Even pen writing. Yes, pen writing. Constantly smudging your words by dragging your writing hand over the ink, not being able to read your notes. Still, knowing that only 10% of the population is left-handed, I would too, design the world for the 90% without any second thoughts. Let the 10% suffer. It is a better world.
However, being left-handed does come with some nice perks as well… ;)
More on that in pt.2
