Janie,
I must take exception to your pal's view of the Amish. There are the
amiable and not so amiable among the Amish, just as there is with
anyone on this planet. We all have our personalities.
There are different sects to the Amish. The very strict, as your pal
somewhat inelegantly states, and there are others who drive cars, have
electricity, etc. No, I am not mixing them up with the mennonites. I
have been around them in Pennsylvania and Ohio. I think the Amish in
Pennsylvania have been harrassed so much that they tend to distrust
the "English", as they call outsiders, more so. Lancaster is a major
tourist area and thousands of people go there every year. No one likes
to live in a fishbowl.
Nearly all the Amish have dairy farms and they must have electricity by
law in their milkhouses to keep the milk refrigerated. Milkhouses are
part of the barn.
I will not address every statement your pal made, but I think he should
review his own biases.
Mary Beth