As another poster pointed out, that came across as patronizing. I should have worded that better. But, if we are going to have a productive conversation about change we need to be able to call out people behaving badly no matter what "side" they are on or what their skin looks like.
I'm not in a place to speak for Black Lives Matter. I'm coming from all the standard places of privilege -- white, male, upper middle class upbringing, college educated, (raised) christian, straight, married, etc. I'm not in a position to relate what blacks, women, the poor, etc suffer on a daily basis.
However, if you are like me, white, male, etc -- maybe I can relate something that will help?
Hi, I'm AccidentialMustache, and I'm left handed.
You reply: "So what?", right?
Did the line above feel natural? Did you notice I didn't use "correct"?
"Okay, now right-click on the file to get the context menu and ..." -- not click/primary-click and opposite-click, which would be handist-neutral. 43 million results on google ("right-click") vs 36... thousand ("opposite-click").
Double-doors are hinged backwards (eg, hinged on the outside) for me.
When I meet someone in a business context and I'm expected to shake hands, it's always awkward. I'm usually carrying things (resume, notepad, pen, maybe a water bottle) in my right hand. I leave my left free to fumble with keys, adjust my glasses, hit the lock combo on my keyboard as I leave my desk, to push my chair in. Offering to shake with my left is considered rude.
Did my phone ring too loud in the quiet office? I can't drop the volume quickly one handed. The buttons are on the right. Only.
We recently got an Oculus Quest (beat saber -- so fun!). Guess what? Only the right hand controller's oculus button pauses the game and brings up the heads-up-display. Would it be so hard to have both controller's button do that? (the docs seem to claim either controller's button should, maybe the left controller is defective?) When beat saber boots, only the right controller is active to use menus by default. At least by just clicking a button on the left it'll flip activation to the left and disable the right. But even if I've selected left handed mode, it still boots up with the right controller active. All left handed mode does is flip the notes so you can get an even workout across your arms.
And I'm the invisible minority here! If you see me at a distance, you have no idea I'm left handed. Not until I possibly fumble the handshake, or pick up a pen to write (who does that these days?), or you see my desk at work with the mouse on the left, would you have a hint.
So I'm going to challenge the "generic you" out there -- try it. Try being left handed.
* Put your mouse on the left, flip the buttons. Watch as some programs note that and change their directions (usually notable in video game's tutorials) while others don't. Then you can play the "guess if this program flipped the tutorial or not" game too! Oh, and I hope your mouse is actually left-friendly, not some abomination (
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/mx-ergo-wireless-trackball-mouse).
* Carry stuff at work in your right, so shaking hands is awkward.
* Open double doors with your left. Heck, stores and workplaces are empty right now, if you find a double door, open the "wrong" half with your right hand!
* Try writing something left-handed. It doesn't need to be readable. Do it with a slow-drying pen. How does the smear look?
This is nothing compared to the subject under discussion. In the past, being left-handed would certainly have been worse than it is now. The teacher whacks a left-handed student. Computers didn't used to have "left-handed" as a mouse option. These days it isn't a micro-aggression level. It's just pervasive and annoying. But it's the perspective I have to offer and it is the one I am qualified to speak about.
Random aside: I'd love if COVID kills the traditional handshake in the US. I don't have a great hope that it'll be replaced by a hand-neutral greeting ritual though.