Thunder Dog - Michael Hingson [74]
Whatever else may be said, there is nothing subtle about all of that; nor is there anything subtle about the term “bar sinister,” which comes from the Latin sinistral, meaning left-handed. The 1971 edition of Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, says: “bar sinister . . . the fact or condition of being of illegitimate birth . . . an enduring stigma, stain, or reproach (as of improper conduct or irregular status).” Supersensitive? Quibbling? Not on your life. Left-handers arise. You have nothing to lose but your chains. They probably don’t fit you anyway, being made for the right-handed. Look for the new slogans any day: “Left is lovely,” and “Get righty!”
As with other oppressed minorities, the subtleties of language and prejudice carry over into the job market. I know of a girl, for instance, who lives in Kansas and who sought employment in a factory in that state. She was interviewed and passed every test with flying colors. The prospective employer terminated the interview by telling her, “You are in every way qualified for the job, and I would hire you immediately, except for your handicap.” In outrage and indignation she demanded to know what he meant. “Why,” he said, “it’s obvious! You are left-handed. The machines on our assembly line are made for the right-handed. You would slow down the entire operation.” This is not fantasy but fact. The company makes greeting cards. The girl did not get the job.
If, in truth and in fact, the left-handed girl would have slowed the assembly line, it is hard to see how the action of the employer can be called discriminatory. He could not be expected to buy new machinery simply to give her a job, nor could he be expected to redesign the entire factory. The “normal” person is right-handed, and it is reasonable for the factory to be designed accordingly.
Or does all of this miss the whole point? Is this not exactly the way employers and the general public think and talk about the blind? How did the employer know that the girl would slow down the assembly line? How did he know she was less efficient? Perhaps she had alternative techniques. Perhaps, in fact, she could have done the job better than most of the other people he had on the line. He decided (based on what he doubtless called “obvious” and “common sense” reasons) that she couldn’t do the work. Accordingly, she was never even given the opportunity to try. Beware the “obvious,” and look very carefully at so-called “common sense.”
Do you still say there is no discrimination against the left-handed? Probably you do unless you begin to think about it, unless you get the facts—and even then, some people will say you are quibbling, that you are exaggerating. How very like the case of the blind. How easy to make quick judgments and have all of the answers, especially when you are not confronted with the problem or compelled to look at reality.
From all of this, you can see that the life of the left-hander is not easy. Nevertheless, his infirmity can be reduced to the level of a mere nuisance. It need not mean helplessness or inferiority. It does not necessarily cripple him psychologically. With reasonable opportunity he can compete on terms of equality with his right-handed neighbor. The average left-hander can do the average job in the average place of business and do it as well as the average right-hander.
So far as I can tell, there is no inherent weakness in left-handedness at all. The problems arise from the fact that society is structured for the right-handed. But these problems (annoying though they be) do not keep the left-handed from leading normal lives or competing with others. They are at the nuisance level.
Therefore, even if blindness (like left-handedness) had no inherent problems, it would still be a nuisance since society is structured and planned for the sighted sometimes when it could be arranged more