Taboo: Eating with your left hand is taboo?

Have you ever being scolded by your parent by doing things you doesn’t know? That happened quite often in my life. One of an example happened during a family dinner long time ago. As a kid I don’t know what right and wrong and at that time and I did something horrible. I ate with my left hand.  They said that it is taboo to do, but what is taboo actually?

Taboo is actually an action which is proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable. It might also be a prohibited practice. Eating using your left hand is one of it. Not only eating, when you lend someone something with your left hand it also consider as taboo. In the Eastern culture it’s rude to use your left hand that way. People tend to think that left hand is use for unhygienic things. It’s actually first started in the Middle East country. They believe that the left hand is “unclean”. It can only be used for private duty. They believe that it is extremely impolite and offensive if you use your left hand for either eating, shaking hand, and wave.

This custom then spread to most Asian country including Indonesia. We, children have been doctrine that left hand is dirty even though there is actually no such a thing. Don’t you wash your hand after you go to a toilet? Then what’s wrong with our left hand? I personally think that this is unfair for some group of people. Have you ever imagine the left-handed people? This custom will be a burden for them.

This taboo then is part of our tradition. It is rather hard to disagree toward a tradition which has been there for thousands of years. Parent will teach their children this way and children will teach the grandchildren. This cycle will go on and this tradition won’t be forgotten. Even if some groups of people disagree, there is barely anything they can do because it have been everyone’s habit.