Amish Paradise

Even though I had completely given up on seeing any Amish in Pennsylvania, I was still hoping to creepy stalk in Ohio or Iowa. Driving in upstate New York, so far north the border was only a few miles away, I did not expect to see a horse and buggy parked in front of a gas station. Immediately my creepy stalking began. A lucky donor will receive a jar of homemade apple butter I bought from a young Amish mother. Just having a roadside interaction was not satisfying so I decided to take some back roads. Finally after some direction I ended up quite far off the highway to talk with a man who directed me to his Amish friend. "Tell him Rally sent ya to check things out and tell John if he doesn't give you a tour, then Rally's gonna come up there and kick his butt." I laughed and headed in the direction I was told to go.

Remember, I am an INFJ. NOT an ENFJ. (google your 4-letter result and click on the personality page description of your personality) Going up to talking to a stranger is really difficult for me...especially to try to ask them to let me in their house!! One time, when I accidentally let slip my secret creepy admiration of the Amish, my friend responded with, "I'm waiting for the punchline." No punchline.

I noticed it was the right house right away because his was the one with ramps along every entrance. Out in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York, this was not the typical tourist destination so to have a stranger walk up to your house was an event. The girls, all dressed in long blue dresses with dark green or purple aprons and navy blue bonnets covering their long, fair hair, immediately gathered around with curious and excited looks in their eyes. They were too shy to answer many of my questions but they looked happy, not frightened. When I asked to speak to Mr. John, they all padded barefoot indoors to get their father.

A man in a wide-brimmed straw hat with dark curls jutting out from under and a long, dark beard on his chin wheeled his way to see what was up. I immediately began to stutter and to think this was a really bad idea. 7 curious faces were all upon me now. He ended up being very kind and open and showed me his workshop and talked about their way of life and how he became paralyzed. How difficult that would be in a culture where the man has a real responsibility to take care of a large family and work with his hands. "5 years ago on Wednesday, I fell in an accident that change my life," he said sadly has he wheeled himself around the workshop. "It's still hard, but I had to accept it. The hardest part is not being able to do all the things I used to love. I used to love to run." We both sat in silence, both wondering why we bother with plans when everything can change in an instant.

I still felt so shy the entire time. For so long I have admired them so to meet a family was just so neat. When I was younger, I thought well, I'll go join the Amish when I am old enough. Of course that was a silly idea as realistically that just doesn't happen. Plus, although living without electricity or running water seems like it would be a major adjustment, the lack of freedom especially for women would really be the point that would keep me away. Besides, who's ever heard of an Amish Catholic?

I think now the reason why I admired them so much because I have admired community and being a good neighbor from the time I was a child and the Amish really have that community. Of course, in every community no matter where you are and modern American culture is no different to this, you have to live by a set of rules. The Amish standards are very strict so if you don't fit in that box, unfortunately life can be very hard for you. My social psychology teacher when we first started class asked if it was easier to live outside the box in an individualistic culture like the Americans or a group-minded culture like the Japanese. I knew the answer but most people assumed it would be Americans. No, actually it's equally hard for both cultures if you don't fit in.

We waved good bye after about an hour and he returned to his woodworking business and I drove on, really wondering...what would it be like?