Aug. 13 is not one of the bigger holidays, but it's cause for celebration in my house.
Today is International Left-Handers Day, and I, my friends, am a full-on, proud-as-a-peacock left-hander.
There's something a little quirky about lefties — some people would say odd. I don't care either way, I wear my left-handedness as a badge of honor. I'm proud of it, and the few inconveniences of it (in our house, my wife laughed when I said the coffee maker discriminated against lefties, until she tried making a pot left-handed) pale when compared to the pride of being part of his select group.
And we're no mere conversation pieces. Five of the last 11 presidents (Truman, Ford, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton) have been left-handed, not to mention two of the top three home run hitters of all-time in baseball (Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds). It makes me sorry in more ways than one for Hank Aaron.
Some of the other proud members of our club include: Ben Franklin, Joan of Arc, Fidel Castro, Alexander the Great, Michelangelo and M.C. Escher, both Letterman and Leno, Hellen Keller, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Mark Twain and Curt Kobain, Carol Burnett, Charlie Chaplin, Harpo Marx (perhaps my personal favorite), Simpsons creator Matt Groening, Jimi Hendrix, two of the four Beatles (Paul and Ringo), Casey Stengel (another candidate for my favorite), Marilyn Monroe, Ted Williams, Jerry Seinfeld, Whoopie Goldberg, Robert DeNiro, Jim Henson ... the list goes on.
It is my dream one day to organize a parade that goes the wrong way up a one-way street to celebrate this group of independent, offbeat, creative, unique people. In the meantime, I'll drink a toast this evening to the only club I'm proud to belong to.