Dealing with the 'unclean hand' when travelling (if you're left-handed)

10/28/2011 1:31:29 PM

I just try to make a conscious effort to use only my right hand for most things when I’m in public places – paying for transportation fare or items in a market, eating in public restaurants, even pushing doors open. If you’re mindful enough, you should be able to manage most of the time; if you forget once in a while, just correct yourself as soon as your realize what you’re doing. I’ve never had anyone get seriously (at least, seriously in a way that was visible to me) upset with me if I accidentally used the wrong hand. A little bit of tension, but outrage is pretty rare in my experience. Still, I’d rather be ungraceful than rude. 🙂

It really is just practice, I think. I find it incredibly awkward to eat (with silverware or with my hands) using only or primarily my right hand, but a few years ago I spent a few months in India, and about halfway through I realized it was coming much more naturally. I didn’t have to think about which hand I was using, and the coordination of performing those tasks was requiring less active thought. Still a little strange, and it sometimes extended mealtimes, but it got better.

12/1/2011 7:19:11 PM

Shaking hands or handing over an item with one’s left hand is
considered an insult.

I think this is exaggeration!

I live in and visited many Muslim/East countries and it is not an insult/wrong to hand stuff with left hand. You might just met some extremist in this train, anyway I never went to Uzbekistan .

and by the way, I have never saw any one shaking hand using left hand, even left-handed people shake with their right hand, because this is the defacto standard.

But in these countries, you will notice that most of people eat with their right hand. Even left-handed people are used of it. But there are few people who eats with left hand and no one see it as wrong/bad/unhygienic.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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