Fight breaks out after woman is asked if she is left-handed
By Jillian McMullen, Staff Writer
After a violent interaction with a fellow student last Tuesday night, a Douglas College student was left wondering where he went wrong.
A fight broke out after Andrew Wright, a communications student, approached fellow classmate Audrey Gauche in the school library and asked if she was left-handed. Gauche, who had been writing notes with her left hand at the time of the inquiry, allegedly dropped her pen and, without hesitation, swung at the unsuspecting first-year student. What ensued was a full-blown student brawl, with many students getting caught up in the confusion.
Eric Palmier, a close friend of Wright, said the scene quickly spiraled into total chaos.
“He didn’t expect that left hook of hers—he didn’t even see it coming. After that first hit, people went wild and started joining in. I think I saw one dude threaten another with a pair of left-handed scissors,” he said.
Another student involved in the event, Philomena Phalanges, supported Gauche.
“Good for her. Stand up for what you believe in,” she said.
Gauche spoke with the Other Press upon leaving a disciplinary meeting with the dean this morning, and maintains that she was provoked by Wright.
“What’s with everybody always interrogating and undermining lefties? Why is the first instinct people have when they see you writing with your left hand to ask ‘Are you left-handed?’ Like, how am I supposed to reply to that? ‘No, I’m not, I just like to mess around sometimes?’ It’s ridiculous,” she said, throwing her hands up. “So, yeah—I snapped. It’s not like he gets what it’s like being left-handed.”
Gauche listed a number of struggles she faces, some of which included notebook rings being constantly in the way of note-taking, and can openers that only work using your right hand.
She also claimed the school allows more privileges to right-handed students.
“How many of the auditoriums provide an adequate number of those fold-out desktops that are appropriate for left-handed students? Even if there were enough, they’d always be occupied by right-handed students,” she said.
The Leftist Lefties, an on-campus student organization, will be holding a rally in support of Gauche. They are campaigning to have the school enforce a policy to help combat the daily disadvantages left-handed students experience.
“We’re just sick of our voices not being heard. The incident with Ms. Gauche is just another example of the frustration us lefties have felt since childhood,” said the organization’s president.
