How far exactly is the nearest Amish person to your home? I can guess by your blind love for them, but come on how far?
We have some Mennonites around but no horse and wagon Amish. I spent a couple of days riding Amtrac from Wisconsin to Oregon with a good size bunch of Amish going to Mexico for elective medical treatment (much cheaper). They were an interesting bunch and did not smell bad. They brought all their own food and didn't set foot in the dining car. The babies were fed on the tit under a cover of course. The small children were linen up in their seats in the morning and fed milk and oatmeal. There were farmers and furniture builders, and builders along on the trip. All the kids behaved, the ladies were quiet and modest, and the men friendly enough and would converse with me in English. Now the blacks that rode from Chicago to Minnesota, that was an ignorant acting bunch screaming at and threatening children the whole way.
So the short answer is that you live no where near them but happened to see a group on mass transit one time and you are now an expert on how they live.
I don't say that at all but I feel about them the same way I do about the much hated Vietnamese fishermen that took over a good bit of the shrimp fishing in my state and Texas. They like the Amish are different and I am very familiar with Vietnamese fishermen. They stick together and keep their nets repaired themselves, do most of their engine repair and in general cut costs any way they can by keeping money in their own community. When they catch a load they put Mama out on the road selling it. If they come in at night with fish on deck they sort with a headlight instead of running the main engine. They eat things they can't sell like stingray and silver eel. I fished for years down there in LA and TX on Florida boats and watched penny pinching Viets push Cajuns out of business. Those upcountry Amish don't pay fuel bills, city water, mechanics, or barn builders. The Viets cut everbody they can out of money and when they show up to buy a fixer-upper boat they bring cash. The cajuns could haves stayed away from alcohol and banks and fished hard and done as well.
Patriotism (and religion) is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
