{"id":21248,"date":"2022-06-05T13:11:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-05T17:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21248"},"modified":"2022-08-30T18:33:51","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T22:33:51","slug":"episode-593-left-handed-and-whistling-1953","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21248","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 593 LEFT HANDED and WHISTLING\u2026. 1953"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Note: I was asked yesterday how long it takes to write these episodes.  It varies.<\/div>\n
This one took a lot of time.  I deleted examples of personal success because it<\/div>\n
sounded too much like bragging.  My view<\/div>\n
was that the elation of success came from overcoming obstacles.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

EPISODE 593     LEFT HANDED and WHISTLING\u2026.  1953<\/p>\n


<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
june 2022<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Little finger, left hand\u2026wired back in place at St. Joseph\u2019s hospital\u2026a blessing.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Touch thumb of left hand to scarred baby finger\u2026FOUND MY LEFT HAND.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
SEPTEMBER 1953 WAS NOT A GOOD MONTH FOR ME<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The fall of 1953 was not a very good year for me,  My first year in high school should have been <\/div>\n
exciting but instead it was frightening.  Someone got access to my locker and scribbled<\/div>\n
‘Fuck You\u2019 on my textbooks. It wasNot difficult to figure who gave out my combination <\/div>\n
 since all Grade 9 students had to share a locker.  I shared<\/div>\n
with a boy who was not very friendly.  He gave out my combination.   The graffiti was disturbing but an even nastier<\/div>\n
 note came next: \u201cGo to Western Tech after school we have a guy who wants to beat the<\/div>\n
shit out of you.\u201d.  Who were these guys?  I never found out.  And I was not stupid enough to go<\/div>\n
to Western Tech to get a beating.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
It was very hard  to Whistle a Happy Tune in this circumstance.  Seemed that the threats<\/div>\n
were coming from my friends.  Hardly friends.  The hatred might have been linked to the cigarette<\/div>\n
smoking incident on the way to school .  My chums always stopped part way to light up cigarettes.<\/div>\n
I swiped three Craven A\u2019s from Fran who was the pharmacist in Hertell\u2019s Drug Store where<\/div>\n
 I was a 35 ents an hour delivery boy..Next day I  Took a puff and butted the cigarette<\/div>\n
Why am I doing this?  Seemed stupid so I gave my chums the Craven A\u2019s.<\/div>\n
That act may have turned friends into enemies.  Then again it may not have done that.  I will<\/div>\n
never know why some friends suddenly hated me.   But I was scared.  Alone in a new school <\/div>\n
with enemies.   Not a nice situation. <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So I joined the football team and made new friends like Russ Vanstone and Jim Romaniuk and a<\/div>\n
whole bunch  of others.   I was not a football hero.  Couldn\u2019t be because I had trouble telling right<\/div>\n
from left and the coach used right and left often.  I became a left guard on offence and a<\/div>\n
left linebacker on defence.  Second string that first year. Terrified the coach would call<\/div>\n
me from the bench because i feared I would foul up.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Note: I am left handed.  In Kent Public School the teachers tried to \u2018break me\u2019\u2026to<\/div>\n
make me right handed.  I guess it did not work very well so I was allowed to reman<\/div>\n
left handed.  In the right left\u2026left right\u2026right left \u2026confusion I was never able to<\/div>\n
know right from left.  That was one severe handicap in life.  Only experienced by<\/div>\n
a few left handers.  About 10% of children are left handed.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Being odd.  In other words being left=handed made me nervous in sports.  Just try to us<\/div>\n
a  glove for right handers in baseball, The glove goes on the left hand.   This means<\/div>\n
that a left handed person has to catch the ball with his left hand then transfer the ball to<\/div>\n
his right hand\u2026throw off the glove\u2026then pass the ball to the now bare<\/div>\n
left hand before throwing the ball.  Sufficei  it to say that my baseball career<\/div>\n
was deep in centre field where i hoped and prayed no batter would<\/div>\n
ever direct the ball.   I envied right handers.  Tried to hide my handicap.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Now this gets me back to that first year playing football at Humberside.  Second string<\/div>\n
sitting on the bench.  Assigned as a left guard whose position is so hidden that no one<\/div>\n
ever noticed me as a left hander..   Just get the ball carrier and hurl him to the ground.. No one really cared in <\/div>\n
the general mayhem \u2026<\/div>\n
Not much danger of discovery because my first year on the team was spent sitting on the bench<\/div>\n
Fine.  That\u2019s where I wanted to be.  Out of the limelight.  .<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The coach did not even know my name. Anonymity has its merits.  But I was nervous<\/div>\n
even on the bench.  So nervous that i fell back on my favourite therapy\u2026the song.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Whenever I feel aground<\/div>\n
I hold my head erect<\/div>\n
And whistle a happy tune<\/div>\n
So no one will suspect<\/div>\n
I\u2019m afraid.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
That song helped wen I was doored by a car in the summer of 1953.  I whistled my<\/div>\n
way home with my left arm dangling due to broken clavicle.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
But its sure did not work in my first year on the football team.  I don\u2019t expect many<\/div>\n
of you could empathize with my  disastrous whistling as I dressed in the locker room.<\/div>\n
Shoulder pads, jock strap, boots with cleats , helmet capable of taking impact without<\/div>\n
giving a concussion.  The banter in the locker room was not relaxing.  So I whistled<\/div>\n
a happy tune.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWho is whistling?\u201d. demanded the coach<\/div>\n
\u201cWHO IS WHISTLING?,  he demanded louder and the room went silient.<\/div>\n
\u201cWho was whistling?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIt was me, sir.\u201d I am not sure whether I spoke, maybe I just raised my hand.<\/div>\n
\u201cYou\u2026come over here..stand up on that bench.\u201d<\/div>\n
Then the coach looked over the team..the silent team.  Seemed as if the world suddenly <\/div>\n
ceased to orbit the sun.<\/div>\n
\u201cOver confidence.  Being overconfident in football game leads to failure in a<\/div>\n
team.  I do not want to see overconfidence ever again.  There iwill be no whistling<\/div>\n
before our football games.  Hear me. \u201c<\/div>\n
I will never forget the humiliation I felt standing on that bench .  Never.  The whole team<\/div>\n
looked at as if I was a loser\u2026as if I was a liability\u2026.<\/div>\n
I hoped there was someone who understood me\u2026understood that I was the <\/div>\n
farthest thing from being overconfident.  Humiliated. Embarrassed. But I did not cry.<\/div>\n
Tears would have really made me look like a total loser.  God I was glad<\/div>\n
my tear ducts held the water back as I stepped down from the bench.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Note: The coach was not a bad man. There are two ways to interpret whistling.<\/div>\n
 His way\u2026i.e. overconfidence.  My way\u2026i.e. scared to death I would not measure up.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
That first year on the team was not good.  But no one wanted to beat the <\/div>\n
shit out of me.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
There was another embarrassment that year when the coach called for quiet<\/div>\n
before a game.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cListen up boys, we have a problem.\u201d<\/div>\n
The room went silent.  Respect to the coach.<\/div>\n
\u201cOur quarterback has forgotten his spikes,,,his football shoes.\u201d<\/div>\n
We all looked at the quarterback\u2026the brains of the team.  He gave a nervous<\/div>\n
grin.<\/div>\n
\u201cOne of you boys is going to have to give up his boots for the sake of the team.<\/div>\n
Would like a volunteer.\u201d<\/div>\n
Doing something for the good of others seemed a holy duty\u2026so I raised my<\/div>\n
hand.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cDave can have my boots, sir.\u201d<\/div>\n
The coach came over to my corner and looked at my boots.<\/div>\n
\u201cSorry these boots are not good enough.  Any one else willing >\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
My boots were bad.  Old with leather cracks so deep that<\/div>\n
the boots seemed ready to crack into fragments\u2026deep cracks.<\/div>\n
Cracks so bad that just putting them on my feet was a painful <\/div>\n
excercise.   But I volunteered for the sake of the team and ended up<\/div>\n
rejected once again.    Not as bad as being asked to stand on a bench<\/div>\n
but bad enough.   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Sitting on the bench ended when my good ftirned Jim Romaniuk pointed at<\/div>\n
me when the coach was looking for a second stringer  when the<\/div>\n
first one got hurt.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cOK Skeoch, get in there.\u201d<\/div>\n
Jesus, he knew my name.  That was the beginning of a change.  I wa still plenty nervous<\/div>\n
right and left confusion.  The coach taught us how to take a ball carrier down<\/div>\n
with shoestring tackles.   Grab him by the lower legs.  Clench.  He will fall for sure.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
  \u2018Skeoch, you wil be left guard.\u201d<\/div>\n
 \u201cYes sir.\u201d<\/div>\n
 \u201cKeep your steps short and your legs bent\u2026.power ready\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The coach showed me where to put my feet\u2026my head….every move\u2026short<\/div>\n
choppy steps that would allow me to use all the power in my body to open a ole for our fullback<\/div>\n
with the ball.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I got good at throwing cross body blocks\u2026.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
STRANGEST RESOLUTION OF LEFT RIGHT CONFUSION\u2026.THE CROSS BODY BLOCK<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cMake your whole body fly sidewise through the air to cut down anyone challenging our ball<\/div>\n
carriers.”     This ‘cross body block’ changed my life somewhat.<\/div>\n
.When I Threw my body in one game at an outside corner backer.  Took him down smoothly.   Unfortunately my hand was flat on the ground as I fell<\/div>\n
and our half back tromped with his spiked boots on my bare hand.  Smashed my baby finger.  Left hand.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Changed my life.  A doctor at St. Josephs\u2019s hospital cut the finger open\u2026the bones <\/div>\n
realigned and a wire implanted down the centre for a few months.   My left hand.  My writing<\/div>\n
hand was immobile.   Not so good for taking notes in Grade 13  But very good for my left right handicap.<\/div>\n
I now could find a bump on my left hand with my left thumb. (see illustration) No more confusion as long as <\/div>\n
I had time to move my thumb to my little finger.  That rather silly movement remains with me<\/div>\n
to this day. Touching thumb to baby finger has become A reflex.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
A HAPPY CIRCUMSTANCE<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So there is a happy ending to the story.<\/div>\n
The same coach who had me stand on the locker room bench for my whistling nominated me for both the<\/div>\n
All Star Football teams in Toronto.  Two very great honours.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
And last month, May 2022, members of that old football team met once again as we do twice a year.  Friends\u2026good friends.  Touch thumb to finger\u2026a constant reminder of the good times.<\/div>\n
(Burlington Country club.  Picture taken for John Futa, back of photo,  who was offensive end, left or right end?\u2026not sure which it was.)   I WONDER HOW MANY ARE LEFT HANDED?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
June 2022<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Post Script:  The finger operation is hard to forget.  It did not go smoothly.  The nurse began shaving my<\/div>\n
right arm in prepartion for surgery.  \u201cWhy are you doing that?\u201d  \u201cTo get you ready for surgery.\u201d \u201cBut the injury<\/div>\n
is on my left arm!\u201d She looked at the chart and said \u201cSorry, wrong arm.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then I was wheeled on a gurney and waited for the surgery.  Waited quite some time. I had been given<\/div>\n
a local anesthetic that wore off by the time the surgery was ready.  I remember the room to this day.<\/div>\n
There were observers looking down from an open space above the operating table.  I screamed when<\/div>\n
the first cut was made.  \u201cHow long has this boy been in the hall?  Anastheitc has worn off.\u201d  So he gave<\/div>\n
me another shot.  I remember his name but think best not to say it.  After cut, repair and stitch I went<\/div>\n
home on the street car with a kind of throbbing pain and a reddening cast.  Not pleasant at all.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
And, foolishly, I continued to play football with the cast on my hand and a wire through the little finger bones.<\/div>\n
Made one of my best tackles that day.  Shoestring tackle.  Days of  glory.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
POST SCRIPT<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
ON BEING LEFT HANDED\u2026THE LATEST WORD<\/div>\n

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How Rare Are Lefties? <\/h2>\n
1<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Right-handed people dominate the world, and it\u2019s been that way since the Stone Age. How do we know? Researchers figured it out by measuring the arm bones in ancient skeletons and by examining wear patterns in prehistoric tools. In Western countries, lefties make up only about 10% of the population. Folks who favor different hands for different tasks (mixed handed) or who use both hands with equal skill (ambidextrous) are uncommon.<\/div>\n

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Genetic Roots <\/h2>\n
2<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Scientists have long known that handedness is partly shaped by genes. But it wasn\u2019t until 2019 that they identified differences in parts of the DNA of left- and right-handers. The study, which also analyzed brain scans of 9,000 British subjects, found that in lefties, the parts of the right and left sides of the brain that process language work in better tandem. Whether that makes left-handers more fluent speakers is still to be investigated.<\/div>\n

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Handedness in the Womb <\/h2>\n
3<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Fetuses start to move their arms around 9-10 weeks. By early in the second trimester, the babies show a clear preference for sucking one thumb over the other. So handedness is probably hardwired before birth. Still, most development experts say parents likely won\u2019t get a good sense of their child\u2019s dominant hand until age 2 or 3. Many kids continue to switch hands for different tasks during early childhood.<\/div>\n

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Mixed Dominant Hands <\/h2>\n
4<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Studies show that non-right-handed students are much more likely to struggle in school and have ADHD symptoms. That may be particularly true for those who are mixed-handed or ambidextrous. One study found that children who switch hands back and forth are about twice as likely to have dyslexia. Researchers don\u2019t know exactly why. But they suspect that having an inconsistent dominant hand may be a bigger problem than consistent left-handedness.<\/div>\n

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Superior Lefties? <\/h2>\n
5<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Your brain\u2019s right side controls muscles on the left side of your body and largely drives musical and spatial abilities. That may be why left-handers often hold more than their share of slots in creative professions. Mirror writing, where letters are reversed and written backward, is almost always done with the left hand. Some studies show that left-handed children score higher on verbal reasoning or are more likely to be in gifted programs. But other research differs.<\/div>\n

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Handedness and Age <\/h2>\n
6<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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In an interesting experiment with right-handed seniors, researchers found that the subjects relied less and less on their dominant hand the older they got. As their right hands grew slower and unsteady, the elderly people handled some of the tasks just as well with their left hands. But they still all saw themselves as strong righties.<\/div>\n

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Handedness and Athletics <\/h2>\n
7<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n
Lefties appear to have an edge in sports like boxing or fencing, where they might surprise opponents used to facing off against mostly right-handers. In some years, nearly half of Major League Baseball\u2019s All-Star roster has been southpaws or switch hitters. But that may be due less to athletic talent than to practical advantages like the fact that left-handed hitters stand closer to first base.<\/div>\n

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Brain Disorders <\/h2>\n
8<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n
There\u2019s a well-established link between left-handedness and mental conditions like schizophrenia, which can cause hallucinations and impaired thinking. A large recent study in the U.K. found a strong link between regions of the brain involved in handedness and how likely you are to have mood swings, restlessness, and neuroticism, a personality type marked by anxiety and fear that sometimes can veer into mental disorder.<\/div>\n

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Humans vs. Apes <\/h2>\n
9<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n
We\u2019re not the only animals with a handedness trait. Researchers watching wild chimps found they favor their left hands twice as often when fishing for termites. And the same was largely true for chimpanzees raised in captivity. But results were different for nut-cracking. For that task, which requires sheer force instead of the fine motor skills needed for extracting insects, wild chimps were much more likely to favor their right hands.<\/div>\n

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Forced Right-Handedness <\/h2>\n
10<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n
Cultural biases against left-handers has existed throughout history. In the Middle Ages, the devil was believed to be a lefty. In Japan, China, and other Asian countries, the percentage of left-handers is much smaller than in the West. American teachers and doctors in the early 1900s believed that left-handers were more prone to mental disorders and pressured students to switch hands.<\/div>\n

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Famous Lefties <\/h2>\n
11<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Four of the six most recent U.S. presidents were lefties: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Celebrity southpaws include Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Tom Cruise, Paul McCartney, Prince Charles, and his son, Prince William. <\/div>\n

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Tools for Lefties <\/h2>\n
12<\/span>\/12 <\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n
If you\u2019re a righty and ever used your left hand to cut with scissors, you know it\u2019s awkward. Lefties can find a growing number of products for the kitchen, office, and elsewhere that are designed with them in mind. You can buy knives with the sharpened edge on the right side of the blade for cleaner slicing. Or a measuring cup with unit labels that face you when you hold it in your left hand.  <\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: I was asked yesterday how long it takes to write these episodes.  It varies. This one took a lot of time.  I deleted examples of personal success because it sounded too much like bragging.  My view was that the elation of success came from overcoming obstacles. EPISODE 593     LEFT HANDED and WHISTLING\u2026. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21248\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}