I don't know anything about Hutterites but a I bought a couple of cords of firewood from a Mennonite fellow a few years ago.
I don't know why (although I have a pretty good idea) but he had me meet him at the city park in Grangeville.
He showed up with four daughters in graduating ages and sizes that immediately formed a bucket brigade and had that wood transferred from his rig to mine in no time. Naturally I helped but the truth is I was just in the way.
I only had a twenty in cash on me but I gave it to them and told em to have a soda on me.
Religion aside...we could use a lot more kids in this country with that kind of work ethic.
The Mennonites here believe in teaching their kids how to work, and you wouldn't believe how young some of them are. They, along with the Amish really depend on manual labor, which is why they all have large families, usually around 8-10 children. There is nothing wrong with children working on the farm, and in their other businesses, just as long as they're capable of doing so safely........and therein lies the rub. When I was a rural mail carrier, I had a lot of the Amish and Mennonites on my route. I kept noticing one little Mennonite boy that could not have been over 4 years old, and I'm guessing he was maybe 3. As soon as he saw me pulling up to the mailbox, he would start running towards the mail box, and had to cross the road to get to it. I saw him run out in front of a car several times, and once he ran between my car and the box in order to grab the mail. I went to house and told the mother what was happening.........her explanation......it was his job to get the mail. I told he was going to get run over if they didn't find him a safer job, and she got mad about it. I do not know why that child did not get run over, as I saw him run out in front of several cars. I guess they old saying that "God takes care of little children and fools" must have applied in his situation.
To add to my story, he was barely able to reach the mail box, and if I slammed the door shut real hard, he couldn't open it. That didn't stop him though, as he'd keep trying to open it until one of the other flock of kids they had came and opened it for him. I finally called the local Child Protective Services and told them about what I saw, and apparently they went out and talked to the family, because he quit doing as long as I was in sight. But, the family must have figured out I was the one who turned them in because they shunned me........lol. As if I really cared.
