Amish Country, Page three

The Amish call themselves Plain People , and they have lots of rules intended to keep them from calling attention to themselves. Men and boys after a certain age must wear hats. Women and girls cover their heads, as well. Before a girl is married she wears a white apron, and a black one afterwards. The style, as well as the color of clothes are prescribed by the elders, and everyone must conform to the myriad of guidelines that shape their lives. I'm sure they must recognize the irony when they see tourists strain to get a look at them. Their efforts to not stand out have made them a curiosity .

Most Amish are farm folk and they expect their children to be farmers, as well, though there is no prohibition against other employment as long as they keep to Amish ways. That is sometimes a problem, though, and the Amish community is changing because of it. They usually have several children who learn to work early on. They go to their own schools only until the eighth grade to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. They learn how to be farmers and farm wives from their parents. More than ninety percent of children raised in an Amish family stay in the Amish community.