[Traver]

The Amish live like the rest of Americans did around 200 years ago. They have no electricity, no sanitation and no water pipes. They also dress like they did back then, and many of the men even have beards that look like Abraham Lincoln’s. The Amish believed that the church, at the time when the Amish were founded, was too loose in its principles. That’s why they created their own church, and also why their whole lifestyle is very strict. They are not allowed to be proud, they should always look like every other Amish, and if they are disobedient to the church, they will be expelled by the whole Amish community. The Amish are a minority, like the majority of people are. Minorities are a good thing, because they create diversity in the world. They also produce new ideas that in turn create progress. Ironically, the Amish are afraid of this progress. They don’t want their work speed to be increased, because then the old ones in the family cannot participate in the work. However, they do accept some changes in their way of life, as long as it doesn’t make it more hectic or stressful. They have tractors, but they do not drive fast in them, which makes them an ok progress. Their slow way of life is also getting quite popular in these stressful times. More and more people are joining the Amish, perhaps to get away from the stress they face in the modern world. The Amish way of life actually has some solutions on some of today’s problems, such as unemployment, since every one would have a job on their family’s farm. However, their way of life has some other flaws in it. If the whole world’s population became Amish, for instance, there probably wouldn’t be enough fertile soil for every one to grow, so it’s probably a good thing that they are nothing more than a minority.

Polly was an Amish girl, and she and her family had moved to Texas to make money for their farm in Ohio. Polly’s parents and her younger sisters had gone back to Ohio to visit their family. Polly’s only friend on the farm was Rose Ann, who was not Amish. They decided that Rose Ann should bring some clothes for Polly to wear, that she normally weren’t allowed to wear as an Amish. Just as Polly had got dressed up and got some makeup on, Tom, the farmhand, came into the kitchen. He said that she was beautiful dressed like that, and he persuaded her to meet him at the crossroads. They went on a date, and some months later, they went on another date, where Tom proposed to Polly. She thought his voice was demanding, though, so she ran off and got bitten by a snake.