We have a rather large amount of Amish folks here, see them all the time in town in the stores, etc. This is a really neat culture and I've done some reading on it. They want no connection with the "English" (meaning us) yet sell goods on the side of the road to us, buy items from us, etc. I see a definite change going on with them. For example, you can have a phone in a box on a pole outside of your home and can talk on it BUT it can't be in the house because that allows a tie with the English into your home. You can't own a car or drive it but you can hire the English to take you around (we are called Drivers) where you need to go. There are differences in the different sects of the Amish, too. Some women use straight pins to fasten their clothing. I'd be real good at that, either sticking myself, jumping up and saying something very un-Amish and very English (particularly the Anglo-Saxon language) or being in a high wind and losing something important because it wasn't pinned right.
Wayne the Hay Guy has some men who work for him, and they delight in grabbing his cell phone which he leaves in the truck and answering it for him. "Hello? Hello? Who is this?" It's a real toy and a delight to them that you can talk on this little device. I had a couple of ladies come into the store one day and ask me where I got the paper bags from. I had to restrain myself from saying "just google paper bags and you can find a source". :) And then there was the Amish man who whipped out a checkbook to pay for his purchases. We take driver's license numbers. Um...not....just take the check, thank you so much! :) I didn't even know they could have checking accounts but like I said, it appears that some things are being allowed, or at least not disallowed.
So this week I observed a young man trying on sunglasses and looking at himself in the little mirror above the rack. These were not plain old black Foster Grants, either, these were yellow iridescent ones. He tried on half a dozen pairs. Jerry says he sees them all the time at the Sonic restaurant, with their giant cokes, or riding down the road, clutching them. I had three ladies run me down in Lowe's to ask about the Knockout roses I had in my cart. They were thrilled with them and asked how much they were and where they were in the store. Also, many are allowed to use chain saws and propane refrigerators (which I am actually glad about, I can't imagine trying to keep things cool and unspoiled without a fridge).
Welcome to the new century, Amish folks! I must say the delight that they look at things with is so refreshing!
And then this week, Beth took a photo of a buggy at a recreational area next to a lake. No Amish were harmed during this photographic session. In case you don't know what that means, they are very shy about cameras, it has to do with becoming a graven image and that is not allowed. But nothing in the rules says we can't take photos of their buggies. And so, with the stories above and this photo, I give you the New Age Amish sect:
So I hope we can learn things from the Amish and that they can learn things from us!
http://www.oasisnewsfeatures.com/
ReplyDeletethis is where the guy who publishes the amish cook column writes all kinds of stuff..he visits quite a few of the settlements around the US. He would probably love that picture to post on his website! They are all different and have different rules. Interesting about the checkbook though, that is a new one to me!