This is a copy of a message I sent to my cousin, Rebeccah, when she was in need of an anecdote:

This morning I went out to the Waverly Draught Horse sale. Quite
interesting. Lots of VERY big horses. Lots of VERY fat men.
Lots of rednecks. Lots of hicks. And, remarkably, lots of Amish people.

I can appreciate what the Amish must go through. They're hardy people, one
would imagine, turning their backs on technology.
Except. They don't really.
Visualise, if you will, the tall lanky Amish man with the black hat, white
shirt and black suit lighting his pipe... with a Zippo.
Strange?
It gets wierder.
The Amish are very good horsemen. And their horses are normally well broke
and do exactly what you want them for. They drive those horses damned near
every day of their lives, and they know who's boss and what their job
description is.
So, there was a LOT of Amish folks there. Mostly young men, younger than
me by some, dragging horses around.
Imagine, again if you will, two Percheron draught horses. They stand 7
foot at the back, and 9+1/2 foot at the head, they're jet black with a
white spot above the lip, their asses are 4 foot wide... BIG. FUCKING.
HORSES... Being led by a 12 year old Amish boy.
Now imagine said Amish boy chugging Mountain Dew.
In a blue denim jacket and blue denim pants done so tidily that they
*have* to be manufactured by a sewing machine of some description.

Just like all the other damned Amish boys, in identical blue denim jackets
and pants. The ONLY differences between them (apart from some being old
enough to have beards, and others not) is that they all wear perfectly
pressed shirts of different colours.
Yes. Colours. White ones. Sky blue ones. Lime green ones. Purple ones....

I think a hundred years ago, whenever the Amish people decided to form,
their head honcho set down the rules.
And these days the Amish people do everything they can to bend the rules
without breaking them.

Random observations from a little white New Zealander who definately
doesn't wear blue denim jackets over purple pressed shirts.