Saturday, April 22, 2006

Two stories about the Amish

I was feeling neighborly today and decided to stop at a roadside stand on an Amish farm to buy some bread. Had to buy cookies too, darn it all, since the slot where you put the money didn't give change and I wanted to get my five dollars worth. Then, I embarrassed myself. I was doing a k-turn in their drive and accidently hit the horn. The family in the window waved, and I waved back, but I felt stupid. It's soooo rude to honk at people, and especially rude to honk at people who have a religious aversion to cars.
There are a lot of Amish in the area. Apparently, land in PA and Ohio is getting too expensive, and with 10-12 kids per family, they have to spread out a bit. Land here is cheaper, because so many families are getting out of farming. Can't blame them, with the long winters and rocky soil. Amish don't have to save for college or make car payments, so it's easier for them to make a go of it. I'm going to try to be supportive of the locals this summer by shopping on the roadside or at the farmer's markets. Anybody want an Amish quilt for a wedding gift?
My second encounter today was at the Little Caesars inside the K-mart. (Yes, eating in department stores is icky and depressing, except for IKEA, but it's easier than dealing with carseats in the rain.) It was a little surreal to see an Amish woman order a pizza. I don't think it was too common for her either. It took about five minutes for the woman behind the counter to figure out if she was asking for a slice or a pie, and another long discussion to decide what toppings fell under the request of "meat".

2 comments:

painterjoy said...

That is so funny! Here in LA, pretty much everyone that takes your order or rings you up does not speak English. I have no problem with that, except that I hardly ever get what I order, and I resort to charades most times to communicate.

AllBeehive said...

I like the new design. So funny that you have a KMart post, Joy has a Walmart post, and I'm going to have a Walmart post this week. It's like we are living parallel lives. Ok not really :)