Can you dress to the "left" or to the "right"?

[Jaylee53]

After a lifetime of being right hand dominant I wondered what I could or should do to maintain use of both of my limbs.  I've heard it said that it's good to alternate use of one's hands to ensure good brain function.   I have a daughter that is left handed...*who knows where that came from*.  She has always said she thinks with the "right" side of her brain.

So, as an experiment along with a willing partner, I entertained myself for 24hrs approaching everything I did using my "non-dominant" hand.  Let me tell you...it was a complete exercise in hilarity..

Try it...for fun...brush your teeth, cut your meat, eat your cereal...put your pants/panties/underthings on using your non-dominant hand for a day.....LMK....post pictures....videos would be great!

[Chez moi]

I think Jaylee knew what was up ahead when she started this!

[Bob Stepp]

Minds do wander off center at times, Pa......

[Bob Stepp]

As your "willing partner" Jaylee,I must say I should have filmed that memorable day. The video would have gone viral on YouTube over night.
Let me say there are certain early morning activities that can only be performed by the dominant hand...period. I did make the attempt, but succeeded only in making the situation worse. I tried brushing my teeth left-handed and found the tooth brush almost fits up my nose, my moustace got tangled up in the bristles, (I use an electric toothbrush BTW) and the toothpaste running down the corners of my mouth made me look like a rabid dog in heat There's also a patch of skin on my chin where hair will never grow again.(Think power sander)
Trying to enter my jeans left foot first resulted me and the jeans in an embarrasing heap on the floor...left leg partially inserted in the right leg of the jeans. Left arm first through shirt sleeve worked okay. Did get left and right boot confused though.
Put a knife and/or fork in my left hand and I become a weapon of mass destruction. I chased the eggs and grits around the plate and a good part of the table till they finally got tired and jumped on the fork by themselves out of pity I guess. Coffee cup in left hand??? ...missed my mouth twice and singed hair off places I won't mention. Computer mouse in left hand??? Right clicked everything till there was nothing left but a blank screen with a giant question mark in the middle.Took the Geek Squad 3 hours to find everything, including the mouse which was cowering between the desk and the wall. When the monitor came back up there was a message saying,"I want to be traded for an MP-3 player and a can opener to be named later."
At the end of the day, I surveyed the destruction left in the wake of this experiment and vowed never to ask my left hand to handle more than the role of supporting actor ever again. There are a couple areas of my body that really thanks me for this. As for "dressing" the other way....it was so confusing I thought I was walking backwards all day. That can never happen again either.
It was fun though, Dear Lady.....and very enlightening...;-D

[Jaylee53]

Well done..!

[Kittycat]

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time...Thanks, Bob!!! ROFLMAO!!!

[Nick Danger]

You know, it really says a lot about how times, and men's fashions (at any rate) have changed when you look at the answers that have been provided.

When I was a youth (shortly after mastodons went extinct), "Can you dress to the "left" or to the "right"?" had a completely different (and serious) meaning. When males went to get fitted for trousers, this was an important question because trousers were manufactured differently for people who answered the question differently. (For the less mentally accute, women don't have to worry about this problem) If you happened to get a pair of "wrong way" trousers, they would never fit quite right.

To be sure, this question usually popped up (no pun intended) when buying more "formal" trousers, such as suit pants or dress slacks and these have fallen out of favor somewhat (judging from what I see people wearing when they go out to good restaurants, these days); it was also asked when you ordered custom-tailored pants (and every man should order at least one pair of these).

[Snagg]

Muy motto: "What Would Neil Young Wear?"

[Jaylee53]

Thank you for that most enlightening explanation....Cowboy didn't go into such detail!
After raising two sons I had no idea I had missed this....I've always wondered why they have this peculiar gait.

[Baia]

I guess it was a blessing when I put my right hand through a French door pane in the third grade. I had a big old bandage on it for a month at least and couldn't even hold a pencil. I had to do everything with my left hand. Now I am right dominant, but when questions like this come up, I realize how much more I use my left hand than a lot of other righties.

I play the guitar badly, too, but I wish my left hand was more skillful than my right in that activity. Same with the piano.
I knit continental style, so I use both hands just about the same. I think if something happened to my right hand, I would be okay with it. My handwriting is legible no matter which hand I use, but I understand that legible handwriting is quite rare these days anyway. I keyboard with both hands. I refuse to text.

I really believe that training the non-dominant side can result in hidden benefits both physical and mental. I hope I never have to be limited to one side over another.

[Jaylee53]

Baia, I found this 24hr experiment to be rather humbling. Everything I did took so much thought in how to approach it. I have a great respect for folks who lose use of their dominant hand or any part of their body.
I may complain that I've lost my ability to snap my fingers but at least I have fingers that still can do all the other important things.
I still try to do something not so dangerous everyday using the 'right' side of my brain.

[Jaylee53]

I'm completely and utterly speechless.....
You are good....very very good.....You might want to work on the eyebrow pencil...seems a big dark for you...just saying.

[Bob Stepp]

Thank you, Pru!!! I do believe both sides of your brain work very well together...