March 16, 2007

Rumspringa When she turned 17, she started her rumspringa -- the Amish rite of passage in which young adults are allowed to dabble in the indiscretions of our world before officially joining the church. "It just means you can do whatever Yanks do," Tina says. "Not everyone drinks alcohol. Some people just drink Coke and play volleyball." . . . She quickly grew a tiny collection of T-shirts and eye shadow, learning to drink by the six-pack until dawn and memorizing Eminem's entire discography. She even bought a cell phone, which her parents still don't know about.

Tina asks him whether he'd ever consider being Amish. "No way. It's boring -- no Playstation, no TV, no computer. And I love my cars. Forget hitching buggies in the snow." Tina gets a bit testy. "I know we're weird. The Amish are weird," she says. "I'll admit that. I mean, I wouldn't mind having electricity." Byler knows where this is going. "Yeah, but if she left her family, she couldn't even sit at the same table with them anymore. That's hard." Tina nods. "And if it's between family and electricity, I'll chose family. I would never not talk to my family again." Byler shrugs before heading for another drink. "Just glad I'm not Amish," he says.

posted by petebest 17 years ago
  • Gosh, that's a fine read! These kids will get in their buggies and pass out and just let the horses head home on their own. Rumspringa says it all.
  • *puts finger to lips and does the bee-u-bbb-ur-bee-uh-bbbrrr thing to ward off the evil yanks*
  • I bet horse-and-buggy DWI accidents are a lot easier on everybody.
  • Except the horses. I had no idea an outsider could join the Amish church. It's a very intriguing thought, to be able to abandon society as we know it and do something completely different. I wonder what ye olde Wikipedia has to say about this...
  • If you're interested in this, rent Devil's Playground (here's the Amazon link). Some of these kids get into some deep deep shit when they go out in the world.
  • Monkeyfilter: puts finger to lips and does the bee-u-bbb-ur-bee-uh-bbbrrr thing
  • Brought to you by our friends at the Having Your Cake and Eating It Too Foundation™.
  • Rumspringa is a fascinating tradition - I've seen Devil's Playground like four times. (Usually through having told yet another friend "OH you have to watch this movie!") If you want more Rumspringa, one of the kids featured in Devil's Playground (Faron, the meth addict) can also be heard in an episode of This American Life.
  • Heh - there are plenty of Amish out by where my fiance grew up, and even more in other parts of Ohio. Not to be confused with Mennonites, who also have a distinctive style of dress that isn't quite as "plain." Out there, there are definitely horse & buggy vs vehicle accidents, though motorists are cautioned to be extra-careful around horses and buggies. Most country roads are two-lane routes with fairly high speed limits, & in the area I'm talking about, there are a lot of people who use those main roads to get to work at a Honda plant that is some distance away, so it's not uncommon for them to go 70+ mph. Not sure how much effect that has on the car-vs-buggy situation, though; I haven't heard much about that kind of accident. I could ask the next time I'm out there - in a few weeks - but I just know I'll be regaled with stories of mangled horseflesh, which I reallyreallyreally don't want to hear about. (Digression: I mean, I was doing a puzzle in Games World of Puzzles last week, which had a horse-racing theme, and I had to stop doing it because it just kept making me think about how Barbaro had to be euthanized. Ponies!) But, there are definite stories out there of crazy Amish kids during their Rumspringa: wild parties in the woods, souped-up buggies, etc etc. I think some of the people out there think it's funny that people have made documentaries about what is pretty common knowledge locally.
  • Yea, Minxy, there are horse and buggy wrecks, bad ones, too. PA law says that a buggy must be equipped with lights for night driving. The Amish have put in a battery operated setup and have no problems with it. Better that than being toast. *clip-clop clip-clop clip-clop BANG! clip-clop clip clop
  • "Rumspringa" Cool name for a pub, no?
  • Posts like these are why I come online. Thanks, Pete.
  • ~Ahem ~ I could have phrased that better, I'm guessin'.
  • PB- heh :D
  • MonkeyFilter: Posts like these are why I come online.