Lifestyle research of the Amish

Lifestyle of the Amish:
A faith that dictates foregoing modern amenities, including electricity, automobiles and telephones, guides the Amish. The Amish dress simply with only basic ornamentation. Men’s trousers use buttons rather than zippers. Amish women sew their family’s clothing from solid- colour fabric, often in shades of blue. A lot of sewing is done in August, getting clothes together for the children to go to school. The women/housewife makes her coverings and bonnet, dresses and aprons to go over the dress as well as capes. Young girls can wear pastel-colored dresses and, like Amish women, wear bonnets. Adult men can grow beards, but no moustaches. The boys go to school but are only educated to eighth-grade. After that, Amish boys begin an apprenticeship to learn a trade, while the girls learn the skills necessary to maintain a home. The Amish are adept farmers and the majority of Northern Indiana’s Amish live on farms. Today, however, few Amish men are full-time farmers. To support their large families, most work in factories, artisan workshops or cottage businesses. Adolescent Amish girls and women often work in retail businesses or restaurants. The home is the centre of Amish life. Amish families host every event and gathering in their homes, from church services to funerals and weddings. Generally, Amish homes are uncluttered and furnished simply. Amish women take pride in their housekeeping, cooking and providing clothes and the staples of everyday life for their families. Many Amish homes include additions or small detached dwellings called dawdy houses, where family members such as grandparents live. In summer and fall, bountiful vegetable and flower gardens add splashes of colour to the usually white buildings on Amish farmsteads. While Amish families often try alternative treatments, they will seek the services of doctors and modern hospitals
when necessary.

This is the typical life of a man and a woman.
(For the men/ husband) He would get up about five a.m., go to the barn and feed the animals, milk the cows and process the milk to the cans for truck delivery to the local dairy. He would then join the family for prayer and breakfast. Depending on the season, he would work in the fields, preparing the fields for planting (late winter), planting the crops in the spring or harvesting the crops in late summer or fall. He usually works from sunup to sunset in the fields for planting and harvesting with a break for lunch. In the evening, the cows would need to be milked again.(For the woman/ wife) She would also get up about five a.m., help with the milking, prepare breakfast, and if laundry day (usually on Monday) get the gasoline motor started on her wringer washing machine do the laundry, hanging them out on the line to dry. She would work in the kitchen garden, preparing it for planting (with help from her husband), or harvesting vegetables for meals. If there are children, she would also get them ready for school, including packing lunch boxes, etc.

The advantages of the Amish lifestyle:
The Amish people lived a peaceful lifestyle. Thus they would not have much stress and they would not have bad influences from the city people. They sow their own clothes and they wear simple ornaments. This can help to save money. The Amish farm and work, and this can keep their expenses low because they can save money by eating what they planted. The Amish also could eat fresh food, drink fresh milk, fresh cheese, and butter every day. They do not believe in divorce, therefore there are not a lot of broken, split up homes. The children benefit greatly. The children grow up on a farm and learn at an early age how to sew, cook, operate tractors and equipment, and manage a farm and home. A 12 year old Amish will understand many basics about life and self sufficiency that an old person in the city never heard of in 70 years. The food is healthy, without all the chemicals, and good. If catastrophe happens, like a blackout, the Amish keep living the same because they have buggies, horses, lanterns, windmills, hand water pumps, candles, and they are not dependent on the fragile system. They do not have the bad influences of TV (thus they maintained a very good eyesight), and save a lot of time to do productive things. They also don’t own electronics like PSPs, hand phones, computers etc and thus they will be very glad with what they own.

The disadvantages of the Amish lifestyle:
Since the Amish do not use modern technology like the computer and Internet, they cannot interact with the rest of the world except going out into the society. They also cannot keep up with the rest of the world. The Amish children might not want to live without modern technology because of all the games, information and fun stuff they could see on the Internet. They are also only educated to eighth-grade and cannot get a good job in the city and only can be farmers/tailors etc. The Amish are also expected to be farmers. And they will always live a “routine” life, like harvesting and planting at the same time of the year and do nothing else. (They will feel that life is very boring) They also don’t have electricity and cannot see properly in the night as they used candles instead of lights. They also wear simple clothes with simple ornaments and not like the fashionable clothes that most people wear. Thus, they would not be able to fit into the crowd and may feel very “special” and “old fashioned”. They also don’t know the basic hygiene and may get sick easily. Since the Amish families often try alternative treatments and only seek the services of doctors and modern hospitals when necessary, they could make what was a small flu into a big disease. Thus, many may die unexpectantly.

My opinion:
In my opinion, I think the Amish should not stick to the way their ancestors have lived as the world is changing very fast and they should keep up with technology. If they still keep this lifestyle, other people may sneer at them for being old fashioned. They also cannot enjoy the benefits that modern people enjoys, and thus would be “jealous” of us. They also keep to their “yearly routine” with almost no change in their “timetable” and will feel that life is very boring. (Like sowing in April and harvesting in September etc) With modern technology, “normal” people can do a lot of things conveniently (or the easy way). But the “not normal” or “old fashion” people like the Amish who almost do not use modern technology, things will not be so easy for them (or the hard way). With these reasons, the Amish would be longing to change their lifestyle and to fit into the crowd. Thus, I think the Amish lifestyle cannot be sustained and they should not stick to their ancestors’ way of life.