Last weekend, Earl and I went to Shipshewana, IN, which has an inordinately large Amish population. That’s part of the charm. You step into a world that is markedly different from the one you left down the road.
You forsake gas-guzzling automobiles for horse drawn buggies. With that you give up speed for clip-clopping to your next errand. You compare your brand-name clothing to the long, plain dresses the Amish women wear and the black pants and hats worn by their men. You admire their workmanship in the various shops that sell furniture, cheeses, and meats.
We hadn’t been to Shipshewana in a while, maybe three or four years. And what we noticed most was how “gentrified” it is becoming. You still see Amish families and their buggies, but it’s overlaid with chain hotels and strip malls. There are far more tourists than there are local residents. And that’s somewhat disconcerting.
I imagine many Amish need the income they garner from selling their wares to the “English”. At the same time, I wonder what is the effect of rubbing shoulders more often with those from the twenty-first century? I sense it’s not in favor of the Amish.
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