Etc...

Hah; I make more than you do!

In case you missed it, International Left-Handers Day came and went over the weekend, and southpaws had more reason than usual to be in a celebratory mood this year. Well, at least those of the male persuasion ... who've attended college for one year. Why? Because they're better paid, on average, than their right-handed brethren, according to results of a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Thirteen percent better, as a matter of fact. Bump that up to 21 percent for lefties with four-year undergraduate degrees. The authors analyzed data from a survey of roughly 5,000 men and women – lefties as well as righties – who were first interviewed in 1979 and who submitted to a follow-up 14 years later. (They've been reinterviewed every other year since then.) Looking for an explanation? The report offers none. But it claims to "support ... the notion that handedness matters." Previous research has shown that left-handers are overrepresented in the professorial ranks at universities and among gifted students, artists, and musicians. Alas, if you're a female and left-handed, the study found that you're probably paid about the same as right-handed women.