THE DEVIL CREATED THE LEFT HAND

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I went to a grocery store to buy some things. I selected the things I needed and walked over to the cash stand. The woman behind the stand, who happened to be the owner of the shop, had a little girl of ten with her. She told the girl to do her homework while she attends to me. The little girl picked up a book and a pen with her left hand. The woman turned saw her and shrieked. I was a little alarmed and pondered if I had done something wrong. Her actions answered my questions.

“How many times have I told you to stop using your left hand? It is bad” she said as she hit the girl over and over. “

I wanted to say something but didn’t, my mind was filled with questions. This woman sounded learned. She should know better, right?

I know it’s not just here but in many countries all over the world.  The way the colour 'White' has been used to denote everything good, 'Black' for devilish and bad, Here, in our culture, 'Left' is devilish and bad and 'Right' is good.

As a kid, I thought maybe when the white men came and we started learning the English language, we took the word ‘Right’ to a whole new level by it getting lost in translation. So, right hand too meant good then left hand, evil.

Growing up, I remember writing with my right and left hand. Not every time but sometimes and our help at the time took it up as a mission to save me from the devil and bad manners. Unfortunately for her, it didn’t work somewhat. I don’t write with my left but writing with my right it looks like I wrote with the left and I still sweep, wash, etc. with my left and do other things with my right.

Here, when you use your left hand to give something to an adult or in public, it is termed as disrespectful and devilish. It never made any sense to me and it still doesn’t. Who are you to call God’s creation flawed? Who are you to call God stupid for thinking about it and giving you two hands, one on the left and another on the right? Why would you credit something not created by the devil to the devil? If you think the left hand is evil, please go ahead and cut it off, also cut off your left leg, left ear, left eye and everything else on the left side of your body.

A man or woman using their left hand isn’t bad. I can’t remember seeing anywhere in the bible where God called the left hand evil. Is it because Christ is said to be seated at the right hand of the father?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being left handed or mixed handed. It is shocking when supposedly educated people think it is bad. 

It is we humans and our fear of anything different, things not like the norm, things that we don’t understand, so we attack it and term it as bad and evil e.g., races attacking each other, religious killings etc.

A very tiny population of the world is left handed and mixed handed compared to the right handed people. We run away and judge people different from us and what we are used to. Using your right hand or left hand doesn’t make you a better person. What you have, he has. It’s our thoughts and actions as people that should matter, how we treat those around us and not what hand we use.

As per the respect thing associated with the right hand; one could give you things with their right hand, insist you sit by their right and still not respect you. How do you judge respect with that?

Every time you make bad remarks about left handed people, I think you tell God he made a mistake and that you don’t deserve or need the left hand he gave you. A man with one hand, if the other could grow back, I’m sure all these won’t matter to him.

Let me leave you with an incident that happened to me.

I was in a bus. I had a very big bag in my right hand; my tiny hand bag was on my left. I couldn’t let go of the bag on my right, it would touch the wet dirty floor of the bus and also inconvenience the woman beside me who had entered with two kids; one was on her lap and the other standing beside my bag. The bus was filled up and I could feel my right hand fall asleep as the journey progressed.

The bus conductor yelled for the fare. People started getting theirs out and handing it to him. It got to my turn; I got the fare out my bag and handed it to him.

“You dey mad, why you go use left hand give me money?”

I didn’t say anything. I left my hand hanging for few seconds and withdrew. He kept on talking. He said I could be a devil worshiper or a witch and wanted to use him for rituals. Passengers in the bus started supporting him and insisted, some begged I use my right hand to give him the money. I still didn’t say a word. One said, girls of today don’t have respect, that how can a small girl like me, use my left hand to give money to a grown man. They went on and on. Halfway into our journey, they were still at it. The conductor asked for his fare again and I stretched out my hand again. I spoke finally.

“Conductor here it is. You still no want collect your money?”

“Give am to me with right hand. You no be African?”

I withdrew my hand again and smiled. This man obviously wanted to carry me to my destination for free. Even if, I could drop the bag in my right hand, I wasn’t going to anymore. I was determined to see how this would play out.

I looked at the rosary on the bus conductor’s neck and pondered if it was a fashion statement. My left hand was the devil and greater. He shouted at the driver for him to stop so I could get down since I didn’t want to pay with my right hand. The driver stopped amidst angry outbursts from the passengers. I looked away and refused to budge.

They insulted him and the conductor that he had no choice but to continue the journey. We got to the next bus stop and the conductor needed to give the passenger that got down, a hundred naira.

“Sebi that aunty give you hundred naira you no wan collect am.” The passenger said.

The passenger gestured at me to bring the money. The conductor shouted at him and threatened him with violence saying it was obvious he wanted him to die before his time.

Conductor left the bus and ran around the street looking for money that I had in my hand. The passengers in the bus kept lamenting and shouting over the delay. He ran back minutes later with it and we continued our journey.

Let me fast forward. We got to the last bus stop. We all got down. I turned to the conductor.

“You still won’t take your money?”

The driver shouted at him to collect the money. The conductor told him to come take it.

“I be titled man for my village.” Was the driver’s reply as he got down the bus and left.

I shook my head. The conductor tried to turn gangster on me and call his comrades at the park to tell them I refused to pay. Two came around. I stretched out my hand with the money.

“He no wan collect am.” I told them.

They turned to him.

“She dey use left hand give me the money. Her way no pure.”

No, I wasn’t scared and I really wanted to see how this would end.

One of his comrades laughed and made jest of him. “You look this fine sisi finish she resemble them (witches) for your eye?”

“E no dey show for face.” Conductor told him.

“You wear cross for neck still dey fear devil. Samuel, you no go church yesterday? If I collect am I go take am buy gala.” Comrade replied.

The comrade was about to take the money from my left hand when the bus conductor snatched it from my hand before he could.

The comrades laughed at him. I shook my head laughing and walked away.

Left hand or right hand, God made them for a purpose . Be comfortable with whichever you use and like. None is greater than the other. Your preference for one doesn't make you bad or good. It’s your freewill to choose and not society’s will.

Thanks for reading my thoughts. What are yours?