Humor | Left Handed | Business | Self Awareness

I Can Do It Left Handed, Can You?

I am not left handed, but I use my computer mouse with my left hand, and here is why…

Nowadays, most kids, even before they learn to walk, know how to use a computer mouse. It’s like they instinctively understand how to use one when they are born.

But, they are taught to use it with their right hand. Why is that? Why don’t people use a computer mouse with the left hand?

Well, I taught myself how to use a mouse with my left hand by accident, and now it’s just as natural as using my right hand.

Here’s the story: A long time ago, before the turn of the century, home computers were the rage. If you had one, you were a big deal! You were considered a technological genius! So, of course, it was big deal to have one.

I bought one and it was BIG! It definitely was NOT portable! Once you found a place to put it in your home, it stayed there. The computer was huge and the monitor was HEAVY! But hey, if you wanted to check your email and do some typing, that’s what you had to have. Oh, and you had to have a desk to put this computer on or in, so I bought one of those as well.

For me, unfortunately, the only place to put this computer was in a spare bedroom, and the only place in that bedroom for the desk was against a wall. The trick was, when I sat at the desk with the mouse on my right side, the whole left side of my body was pressed against the wall.

I was left with two options if I wanted to type on the keyboard, I would have to contort my left arm and elbow in such a way it would be extremely uncomfortable and may cause permanent damage. Or, move the mouse to the left side and give myself about eight extra inches of clearance from against the wall.

But, since I was taught to use the mouse with my right hand since college, I had to reteach myself how to use it with my left. So that’s what I did, moved the mouse to the left side of the computer keyboard and started working it that way.

Also, at that time, I didn’t know I could go into the settings of the computer and change the setting for the mouse, so I kept all the settings of the mouse the same as it was if it were on the right side.

Little by little, I continued this way and learned to be just a proficient with using my left hand as I was using my right hand!

An added benefit, and I didn’t realize this, was my productivity would forever be increased because, since most computer keyboards came with the number pad on the right side, I could control the mouse AND type in numbers at the same time.

I would no longer have to move my mouse with my right hand, then take my hand off the mouse and find and then type the numbers and go back to the mouse and so on.

Also, since I’m right handed, it was always more natural to “hunt and peck” on the keyboard with my right hand. So again, control the mouse with my left and type with my right equals benefit.

Another Benefit was if someone had to show me how to do something on my computer (which was quite often) I could just slide the mouse over to the right side for them to use it and I didn’t have to change internal settings on the mouse. It was a win-win for everyone!

And Yet Another Cool Benefit was when I went to various job-training courses — the ones where a dozen or so people were in a computer lab learning some new program for a job. I would always be assured to use the same computer because I would switch the mouse from the right side to the left side and no one wanted to switch it back!

I found this left-handed mouse thing beneficial for later jobs as well. I wouldn’t have to worry about unfriendly co-workers messing with my computer because they found it awkward to use the left handed mouse.

So, to this day, I can switch effortlessly from right hand to left hand and still find pleasure and proficiency with both! You should try it sometime!

Andrew writes stories in the categories of Humor, Lifestyle, Family, Business and Fitness and Health. A few of his stories are linked below.

He also runs an internet business called Top Fitness Strategies where he focuses on people over 50 years old.