Your know YOUR RIGHT

[Magpie]

I had a professor who had trouble telling left and right apart. She used her class ring or wedding ring to tell.

I used to tell my husband "ring side!" when we were doing sevens at the ceilis so that I wouldn't run into him or have to drag him. (Yes, we dance together most dances. No one there has good etiquette, so we can get away with it). Then we got married... fortunately he's gotten better about keeping track of which way to dance.

I've had one of my roomies brainfart of me (More than once) while giving directions while I'm driving, telling me to turn right while frantically pointing left.

My grandparents are an excellent example of a telepathic couple. My grandmother will tell my grandfather to turn right, he'll turn left which is how she wanted him to turn. But it's not as if she always does it. He just knows...

[Evil Queen]

I'm dyslexic. Right and left are the same half the time.

The DataJager says I should get R and L tattooed on my back of my wrists.

[ano]

If it makes you feel any better, my girlfriend has trouble telling her left from her right. She usually has to hold her hands up to see which hand makes an "L" to figure it out. It's a pain in the butt when it comes to getting/receiving directions from her.

Me: "Ok, take a left at this intersection"
Her: "Ummm..... ok" *starts turning right*
Me: "No, take a left!"
Her: "Oh sorry"

I've now taken to saying "see that *insert car going the same direction as us* up ahead? Follow him"

When I first learned to drive, I had trouble differentiating left from right without holding up my palms...then a friend told me that "Lights are on the Left side; Radio on the Right". Never had a problem after that.

[Polenicus]

I've had one of my roomies brainfart of me (More than once) while giving directions while I'm driving, telling me to turn right while frantically pointing left.

"No, no, right! RIGHT!" As I start to move into the right lane, all the while she's frantically gesturing left.

One time I actually stopped dead and had to turn and glare at her, and ask her which wrist she puts her watch on.

"My left."

"And which direction are you telling me to turn?"

"Ri... oooh, no, left! Sorry..."

But as for stupid callers... I believe it. When I worked in a call center I got this sort of stuff all the time.

You haven't reached the zenith of stupidity until you've got someone who spends the entire call typing the letter 'O' in their password instead of zero, because they think you mean alphabetical zeroes instead of numerical zeroes.

[Kristev]

I have trouble relations to directions, myself, as well. It's part of my inability to interpret and relate to space and depth. When a school teacher taught me the 'which hand do I write with' trick, I found it to be a lifesaver. I just hold up my hands in front of me, and after a few seconds, I get it.

[KellyHabersham]

I have to admit that I'm one of those who are "directionally challenged", which is one of the reason why I don't drive, and makes it frustrating for me when I get asked questions such as "Is Macy's at the east or west end of the mall?", or "Is your church on the north or south side of "X street"?

[TexasT]

I had a professor who had trouble telling left and right apart. She used her class ring or wedding ring to tell.

[tuck319]

We had a friend like that - she's a dancer, and often does just that - holding up her hands to see which makes an 'L'.

My wife teaches dance, and after spending years with her back to the mirrors doing steps in "mirror image" of the students, she cannot get or give directions.

If we're going somewhere for the first time, I make notes off the map for her to read to me as we progress. Far easier than trying to communicate direction accurately.

[DemoDiva]

My husband always gives me a hard time about having trouble differentiating left from right! I do the "L" trick sometimes, the "Which hand do I write with?" trick others. Most of the time, I just pick one and endure the, "NO, LEFT! Jeez, you really have problems with that, don't you?"

I always just associated it with my childhood dyslexia -- it's nice to know I'm not the only grown up in the world who has trouble with left and right! Now, how about reading those damn analogue clocks?

[bsaana]

If I ever forget, I can just look at the top of my hands. Broke the right one playing high school football, and had to have 3 screws put in the bone, and then a year later they were removed....

Thank God I have yet to have one of those direction impaired people call in for support.

[Magpie]

If it makes you feel any better, my girlfriend has trouble telling her left from her right. She usually has to hold her hands up to see which hand makes an "L" to figure it out. It's a pain in the butt when it comes to getting/receiving directions from her.

Me: "Ok, take a left at this intersection"
Her: "Ummm..... ok" *starts turning right*
Me: "No, take a left!"
Her: "Oh sorry"

Ok, I don't have any trouble remembering which side to hold out. The trouble is that you need to be the sort of person who has a good enough spatial sense to be able to tell which one is an "L" - they're the same shape, one is just flipped around. (Yes, I pushed a pull door once. I thought it was a pull door, but the sign said "push". I haven't had much luck with my campaign to ban signs that can be read through the door.) I find that it looks more like an "L" to me with my right hand: I'm right handed, therefore that's the hand I use when I finger-spell.

I also don't have trouble when driving. Left is turning across traffic, right is a small turn. But aside from that, left and right are EVIL. After all, every time you turn around they change!

[ExRetailDrone]

I sometimes get my left and right confused as well when I'm giving directions, especially when I was still in retail and I was trying to explain to someone how to get to a certain area of the store. I always felt very dumb when I had to correct myself (which would be within a few seconds of saying the wrong way), but... this woman... just... wow.

Her thinking you were behind her monitor (or whatever it was she was imagining) reminds me when I was a kid and I thought that little people lived in the radio and that's how the music came through. But by the same token I was in the single-digit ages and thinking like that is ok when one is that young.

My brain hurts.

[trunks2k]

I've known people who do the same thing, but I've never really understood how that helps. If you hold your hands palms up you'll get the wrong result. And I don't see how remembering to hold your hands palms down instead of up is easier than just remembering which side is left and which right.

She holds her hands up in front of her face with her palms facing outward (like she's trying to stop someone), and thumbs pointing towards each other. The left hand makes an L.

[kzc]

If it makes you feel any better, my girlfriend has trouble telling her left from her right. She usually has to hold her hands up to see which hand makes an "L" to figure it out.

I've known people who do the same thing, but I've never really understood how that helps. If you hold your hands palms up you'll get the wrong result. And I don't see how remembering to hold your hands palms down instead of up is easier than just remembering which side is left and which right.

[Stormraven]

We had a friend like that - she's a dancer, and often does just that - holding up her hands to see which makes an 'L'.