 |
USAF drill sergeants turn raw recruits into airmen. |
So I'm at the supermarket Tuesday afternoon and this older woman in front of me is paying for her groceries with a credit card.
She swipes the card and then turns the box slightly to use the stylus to sign for the purchase. And she curled her left hand over the signature space so that she was actually writing upside down to sign her name. Aha! She's a leftie!
Then it hit me all at once -- a special interest group the Democrats have not taken into account. (You know the rap by Republicans is that ALL the Democrats ARE is a party of SIGs.)
Full disclosure: I am a leftie as are about ten percent of the human race.
And the world is quite uncaring about lefties. Let me share a couple of stories.
READIN', WRITIN', AND 'RITHMETIC
 |
How Miss Cumro had Dan starting to write. Not! |
In the 3rd Grade, Miss Cumro began our lessons in the cursive script known as the Palmer Method. It consisted of learning to make loops, ovals and swirls by practicing them over and over on specially lined worksheets. I was enthusiastic and brought worksheets home to practice.
Which is when my mother noticed me writing upside down (like the lady in the supermarket and the gentleman above). What was that about, she wanted to know. The answer wasn't far away.
Turns out Miss Cumro would check our work as we practiced by walking up and down the rows of desks, eyeballing each student at work. As everyone else was right-handed, she had me turn my paper at the same angle as they did -- meaning in order to write in that position I had to write upside down, with my hand and pen above the letters instead of below them.
Mother put a quick stop to that. She said to Miss Cumro, "I don't care what's easier for you. I want him to write like a normal person so you let him put the paper the way it's comfortable for him." And that was the end of that. I'm left-handed but write like a normal person.
My next challenge as a leftie came at the end of my Junior year in high school.
FINAL EXAMS
Just before the final exams I had fallen going over a gym horse and broken my left (writing) wrist.
Now New York State finals in those days were the dreaded Regents Exams -- highly guarded, state produced tests delivered and kept secure by the local schools under lock and key until administered. They were a timed test, at the end of which you turned in your test book and worksheets. Period.
With my arm in a cast I could not write with my left hand. But I could write with my right hand -- slowly and laboriously, meaning the clock would beat me before I could finish.
The school asked for and got special permission from the state for me to continue on after all the others had their test papers collected for as long as I needed to finish the exams. Whew!
My third leftie story is from my time in the United States Air Force.
AT THE RIFLE RANGE
The Air Force was not yet 15 years old when I enlisted and much of its basic training showed its ancestry as a part of the US Army. This included being issued and having responsibility for an M14 rifle and attaining marksmanship proficiency.
There were about forty guys in my barracks and the drill sergeant marched us to the rifle range one day for live ammo practice. Airmen would lie in a long line on the ground, separated by a couple of feet or so, with a slight embankment against which they rested their weapons to take aim at the targets about 20 yards away.
As there were several lefties, the drill sergeant had the right-handed airmen line up from the right end of the firing line toward the center. And then the left-handed airmen started from the left end of the firing line and filled in toward the right. I was the right-most leftie and there was about 3 or 4 yards or so between me and the left-most right-handed guy.
The sergeant first instructed all the right-handers on the proper procedures.
Then he came over to the left-handers and tried to give the same instructions from a left-handed perspective. (We lefties were already ahead of him, as we had spent a lifetime "translating" right-handed things to left-handed use and could do it without batting an eyelash.)
The drill sergeant instructed all the airmen to keep their weapons pointed toward the targets at all times. If they had a question or a malfunction, they were to keep their weapon pointing at the target and raise their free hand and he would come over to address the situation.
Well, the right-hand guy nearest me had a malfunction, and he raised his hand and turned toward me as he did so -- with his weapon pointing directly at my head. The drill sergeant sprang over to him and in one motion kicked the M14 out of his hands and into the line of fire. Then he proceeded to viciously kick the airman, pull him up from the ground and send him to the barracks to await discipline.
We continued our practice. I don't think I took it all in as that serious, but while marching back to the barracks, I suddenly fainted. First and last time in my life I ever did so.
Everything from mayonnaise jars to bowling balls, from toothpaste caps to the computer mouse is designed for righties.
So, why doesn't the Democratic Party start a "lefties caucus"?
Actually, I don't think that would be a good idea.
In fact, I think what the Democratic Party needs is less identity politics and more getting back to its roots as the party of working people.
Part of the reason for the Trump win and the Democratic loss in 2016 was the Democrats' drift away from the base, which can be traced to as far back as Bill Clinton in the 1990s if not further.
In order to make sure Donald Trump is a one-term only president, we Dems need to get it right the next time around.
The 2018 mid-term elections were a dress rehearsal for 2020, and I sure hope the experience means we WILL get it right next time around.
Our small "d" democracy depends on it.
-- Dan Damon [ follow ]
View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.
About Cookies: This blog is operated by Google, which uses cookies to improve the user's experience. By continuing to read this blog you agree to their use.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment