[TheForge] Amish

[Phlip]

Ray Miller wrote:

> It's like a lot of the things they do. They find a way. I was building a
> power plant near an Amish community in Southern Ohio. We used to go to
> them for lunch. Fresh baked breads, pastries and fresh churned butter,
> Yumm!!!
> One of my less intuitive trainees came once and as we drove away, asked,
> "How can they have refrigeration for the butter with no electricity?"  I
> made him figure it out. Took him three days. Quite embarressing once he
> figured it out.
>
> Ray Miller
> Cincinnati

One of the things a lot of people misunderstand about Amish, in general, is
that they aren't stupid. They have made a choice to live as they do, and they
do whatever is necessary to be comfortable and productive. Amish homes are very
comfortable, and generally very neat and tidy.

One of the best things you can do with an Amish person is make him laugh ;-)
Near Pennsic, there's an Amish saw mill, where we get our firewood, and over
the years, we've developed a good relationship with them, to the extent, that
they'll point us at a pile of scrap, and give it to us free, because we're
helping clean up their area. This makes quite a difference, compared to the
$50-$75 a load that local wood cutters charge most of the rest of Pennsic.

I gotta admit, it's my fault. As usual, I was on a wood run, and we got there
during lunch, so we had to wait. We were all in working medieval garb, and I
happened to notice a couple of flatlander tourister types, in the loud,
synthetic Hawaiian shirts, and bright colored pedal pusher shorts, in a station
wagon. When the yard owner saw us, after lunch, he came over to us first, since
we were regular customers, and I told him we could wait a bit- go take care of
the people in the funny clothes ;-) For some reason, he's treated us
beautifully ever since ;-)

Amish folk, as a general rule, are pretty nice people. They have their way of
doing things, varying, depending on how the local head of the church interprets
Scripture and their beliefs, but as a general rule, they're happy to get along
with us, as long as we're willing to get along with them. They respect hard
work and honest dealings, and if you get a good reputation with them, they'll
help you when they can, just as they would any good neighbor. It was an Amish
neighbor who helped me load my truck on the way to one Pennsic, when the guy
who was supposed to help got drunk instead.

Phlip