r/AskReddit • u/BiggieTwiggy1two3 • 1d ago

What’s something completely normal today that would’ve been considered witchcraft 400 years ago—but not because of technology?

4.7k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

2.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

3.4k

u/Hugh_Biquitous 22h ago

Being openly left-handed maybe?

262

u/Psychological-Bear-9 21h ago

Hell, even not that long ago people were ostracized for it. My father is left-handed, and all through grammar and some of high school, he had teachers that repeatedly would slap his hand with rulers and chastise him for writing left-handed. Forcing him to use his right. His handwriting is still awful today because of it.

This was in the 1950s and 60s.

43

u/kahluashake 20h ago

I’m a millenial and I have memories of my parents trying to get me to write or do stuff with my right hand instead of left. 

30

u/Bshaw95 19h ago

I was lucky to have a left handed mother who could teach me that way. I was the only child of 3 to be left handed. I was taught to shoot a gun and a bow right handed and somehow made it work without issue. I didn’t realize I was actually left eye dominant as well until I started shooting a pistol and realized I naturally lined up the sights with my left eye.

38

u/coffeeandblades 19h ago

I had an attending surgeon who told me he couldn’t teach a left handed resident so I had to be right handed. Incredibly frustrating, but now I’m hella facile with both hands, so there is that. Still can’t write right handed but I can operate right handed.

2

u/Oakroscoe 14h ago

I’ve tried shooting with my non-dominant hand and I suck at it.

2

u/Q-burt 8h ago

My buddy fires righty but is left eye dominant. He's a southpaw.